Incarnation of The Primordials
by MackMaverick
Summary: War with Gaia had ended, but Percy soon finds himself facing the primodials'wrath. Led by Chaos,they seek global domination. Can the hero prevent it with his new found powers or lose everyone he loved? Meanwhile, Arvin and Geoff,two unusual demigods have to find their true selves,but fate of world rests on them and the camp. Can they shoulder the responsibility or die trying?
1. Chapter1:Dark

**This is an oral recount; all names from the Percy Jackson series rightfully belong to Rick Riordan.(This story happens after Heroes of Olympus series)**

Chapter 1: Dark

It finally really happened: the dark days of my life I had dreaded. From that day onwards, I knew I would find the truth of my powers as well as my brother's, our true selves and our background. It was also the day when I finally found the reason as to why our lives were consistently in hazardous dangers.

The name is Geoff, just plainly Geoff. We had no sir names as we were orphans since young. As far as we knew, our parents had died after the day we were born, though I was oblivious to their causes of their deaths. My brother's name is Arvin. Since that day, we had no prior knowledge of our parents till that day arrived.

We had been staying in a rented home in New York. Every month, we had to work in the afternoon after returning home from our boarding schools to pay off our debts. It was hard work, but we dared not complain for it ensured our survival. We stayed in the seventh avenue of New York streets, behind a couple of garbage chutes. Yeah, it was a silly thing to do, but it really did help in masking the smell of us from monsters who 'loved' plotting ambushes.

These monsters loved disguising as humans, attempting to lure as into conversations before grabbing the chance of pouncing at us. Surprisingly, we managed to recognise most of them despite never really coming across any of them. They are a gruesome lot, varying from Cyclops, Hyperboreans, Minotaurs, Empousas and many more. There is a thing we found it strange too: they were all of Greek mythology. Nevertheless, I thanked our powers for without them, we would had been in their hands.

I had vividly remembered that day when our lives changed. I was on my way back from boarding school when I bumped coincidentally with my best friend, Damien. His name, in my opinion was really strange for his true 'self'. He might looked like an ordinary teen in a red cap, white shirt, brown hoodie, dark blue jeans and walking around with crutches. However, I managed to 'see' through him. Underneath his jeans he had a pair of goat legs and under his cap a pair of medium-sized horns. Unmistakably, he was a satyr in disguise, though I had no idea how I got that term.

Wondering how I saw through him? Well, that was one of my powers of course. If I concentrated on things or people really hard whom I was curious or suspicious, my vision could expand till I could see their identity. It was strange, because whenever I tried that my vision would lose its colour and turned grey; sometimes, I could not even pick out things. I knew his name was not Damien, judging from who he really was. Honestly, I knew his real name: Grover, Grover Underwood. I knew he came from Camp Half-Blood, whatever that was, and was friend to Percy and Annabeth, whoever those were.

This was one of my other powers: shifting through thoughts. It was not nearly I could do that all the time, only during circumstances when someone was thinking deeply. Their thoughts usually brushed against my consciousness, enabling me to grasp a faint glimpse of their thoughts. I happened to pry these information from Damien when he was pondering about something. There was one thing I was worried though. He was plotting on how to convince me and my brother to come to the camp of his. That undoubtedly aroused my awareness. How did he know about Arvin?

That day, my suspicion was no difference."Um, hey,Damien,"I managed, trying not to sound nervous. Damien raised a brow at my behaviour. Till that day, he did not know I had discovered his true identity." What brings you here?" I asked again.

"Uh, I thought about sending you home." My heart started to feel uncomfortable. What did he want? Taking this chance to send me and my brother off to that unknown place? "What for? I can walk home myself," I queried him.

"I got a feeling," he hesitated, "you may face dangers." That set me off thinking. My brother and me had faced dangers countless times. Did we ever see Damien helping us? I tried to act surprised."What? Dangers?" I pretended to look around the alley. I saw nothing but a fat pot-bellied balloon seller at the far end, blowing up his balloons."Everything seems all right," I told Damien.

"You do not danger is masqueraded."Damien shifted uncomfortably before saying again," Let me walk you home, at least till your doorstep."I pondered about what he said, though I could think of all sorts of monsters that we could be facing. My see-through power did not work during that time, because I had no mood to immerse myself into deep concentration. Finally, I made my mind."Fine by me."

We started walking towards my house. We did not pick up a conversation and the only sounds were his crutches on the ground. Damien seemed to be in deep in thought. My curiousity aroused, I concentrateed on the spot right above his right ear. However, no thoughts came to me. I was just not in the mood.

Suddenly, we bumped into someone. It was totally unexpected; standing before us was the fat balloonseller. I was amazed that he could approached us that quickly and stealthily. Then, I became suspicious. Glancing at Damien, I saw he was also cautious.

Grinning, the man held two green balloons, as big as footballs."Want some balloons, kids. Its free for you guys, just to cheer you up,"he said.I figured out we might have held our breaths for his breath stank like rotten meat and , Damien leaned towards me and whispered,"When I said go, you run with me." I was uncomfortable with his idea but I kept silent.

As I turned my gaze back on the man, my vision blurred and switched. It had become grey and distorted. My muth hung open when I saw the man. He had beefy arms covered in hairs, three times larger than me and a face featuring pointed teeth and malicious eyes. He was no balloonseller but a Lastrygonian.

"Go!" I had not the time to react when Damien shouted. The monster had thrown a fist at us . Damien raised one of his crutches to block the blow, giving me time to escape. There was a deafening crack and the crutch broke into half. The fist continued towards the ground, smashing it apart. In the meantime, I had started running. Behind me, Damien threw down his other crutch and with three light steps, caught up with me. Not surprising, I guessed.

We ran and hid behind a group of trash cans, jus as a trash cart flew over our heads and landed a metre far from us. Then, there was a whistling sound and Damien shouted,"Duck!"We moved away from the cans just as it exploded into flames, spilling trash everywhere. The monster threw another roaring fireball in our direction and we dodged again, now hiding behind a pile of crates. Behind us, the monster bellowed,"Come out now, tasty food!"

"That is a Lastry-"

"I know, a Lastrygonian. Man-eating cannibals who live in far north,"I interrupted instantly. I did not know what I was saying during that time; the words just blurted out of my mouth."How did you know-"

Too late, the pile of crates exploded. Just then, a thought for survival hit my panicked thoughts. Almost instantaneously, I could feel my body vibrating and a huge tug at my gut. There were the sounds of crates crashing but none of them hit us. Then, I could hear Damien's voice.

"Geoff,how did you-"I looked up and was awed. A large , black, holographic hemispsere had enveloped us , providing a shield. The tug at my gut was still strong and my arms were trembling. At the far end, I saw the Lastrygonian's look changed from snickering to surprise. This was one of my powers I had never known I had.

"Look, I know this is insane but I have to tell you,"I spoke to Damien urgently. I then told him how and what I know about him or his motive. As I pronounced every word, I saw his expression was a daze. When I had finished, he was speechless. Finally, I released the shield, letting it dissolved into nothingness. My arms and head were throbbing and I was gasping for breath. Sweat beaded my forehead.

Three metresaway, the monster held another fireball. Growling, he prepared for the next throw. I glared at it with hatred. Since my brother and I were young, these monsters had been taunting us. Now, I was determined to end this once and for all. Standing, black smoke curled from my both hands. My whole body was radiating with heat. The tug came again, this time even greater. Clasping both my twitching hands, a ball of dark energy coalesed between my hands, my vision flickered and turned red. I tried to focus on the monster.

Just as the monster hurled his flaming ball at me, I released the energy sphere into his direction. Everything happened in a split second. The dark energy nullified the fireball before slamming into the monster. It then exploded, disintergrating the monster with a loud bang.

I had no time to admire my work. My legs were wobbling and my body was sizzling. That was the first time I had used those powers; it really sapped me thoroughly. I collasped onto the ground, gasping uncontrallably. I saw stars around me and heard Damien calling my name and rushing to me. The last thing I heard him saying,"Gosh! I assume its Hades's-" before darkness enveloped me.


	2. Chapter2:Light

**Chapter 2: Light**

My name is Arvin, brother of Geoff. I am a year younger than him; we shared mostly personal interests and frankly speaking, I was really loyal to Geoff. He had been a kind and caring brother to me since young, always finding ways to solve financial debts and helping me sort out my problems. Since we had no parents, he was the only one I trusted.

Geoff had told you about our lives; they were harsh and full of dangers as it involved monsters and creatures of 'chaos'. we just ran in times of crisis or in dire circumstances, only to hear those cruel laughters behind us. Well, this routine ended on that day when our lives no longer the same. Geoff also mentioned about our powers; his was always dark and gloomy, filled with mysterious bits here and there. Mine was different, completely opposite from him.

While Geoff was involved in that fatal ambush, I was in the restroom at my boarding school. Yeah, how selfish of me! Anyway, worriness had gripped my heart during that time because I had wrecked up a havoc. I kept staring at myself at a mirror in one of my school's restroom. No, I was not involved in a fight, stealing or any other discipline cases. It was my powers that gave me that problem.

Everything was normal at first in the classroom, during Mr Rico's lesson. He was teaching us science, about conservation of natural resources when I felt this buzz in my head. It was electronic-like and very annoying; at first, I thought it was just a wasp but my other classmates seemed not to notice it, even Mr Rico. Trying to ignore it, I began to doodle on my textbook. The buzzing sound,however disappointingly, amplified till I had no choice but to clasped my head in annoyance and glared up at the ceiling.

Then the wierd thing happened; an intense feeling clawed through my body. I felt as if someone was gripping my stomach tightly. Suddenly, I saw the flourescent lamps above me increased in brightness, their white glow slowly intensifying. I glanced around worringly but no one seemed to notice. It could be the breakfast that I just had, I thought silently to myself. It was almost wierd ,as if a high powered battery was connected to those lamps. As the glow of the lamps increase, the tugging in my gut worsened. The glass of the lamps began to vibrate as the heat increased rapidly. I became to feel headache; soon, the glow was so bright that I could not even spot my shadow. Mr Rico stopped teaching and looked up, so did my classmates.

All of a sudden, the lights shattered, raining glass pieces all over the classroom. Screams erupted in an instance, coupled with a number of curses as the fragments hit their victims. Within a split second, the whole class was in darkness. There was a momentary flick of pain on my right arm. I looked down and saw that a piece had lain a cut on my arm, just above the elbow. Blood began to seep out, trickling down my arm.

I was in a daze. It was just too much to consume. Placing my left hand on the wound, I tried to sustain the bleeding. In the meantime, the class was in chaos, drowned with shoutings and curses. Mr Rico was in the middle of calming the class down; he frowned and stole a glance at me. I figured he might have decided that it was me who played the prank. Well, I thought, I will really get into deep trouble when I returned. Creeping out of the class, I made a dash to the nearest restroom.

I bathed and examined the wound in the restroom. It stung a lot but my mind was focused on the incident that had just happened. What had happened to me? Thoughts ran through my mind but I was totally unsure; it just did not seem right for a child able to shatter flourescent lamps. Despite the bathing, blood continued to ooze out of the cut. It was at least three centimetres long, quite a serious one.

The lights in the restroom were strong and I could feel my injury burning like it radiated heat. Suddenly, there was a tingling sensation on the wound and the skin slowly knitted back. I watched in horror as the cut narrowed. The bleeding stopped. After a few seconds, I stared at the flawless skin uncomprehendingly. It was too miraculous, almost impossible! Till that time, I thought I was just an abomination. Did I mentioned my powers?I could light up my hands like lamps and stare into direct sunlight without getting blinded, but never this.

Then, dread passed through me and I thought about the classroom incident. I was pretty convinced it was caused by me and the more I thought about it, the more I was afraid getting into trouble, or worse my powers would be known. Gods, this is bad, real bad, I thought. Then, there were footsteps approaching; they were slow and steady, as if the person was expecting something. I panicked and glanced around but there was nowhere to hide. I tried to remain a calm posture instead, facing the door of the restroom. The footsteps shuddered to a halt, then the restroom door opened slowly.

In came Mr Rico, dressed in his chocolate-brown suit, dark pants and shoes. He glanced at me from head to toe. At that moment, I refrained from doing anything but remained staring at him. In a monotonous voice, Mr Rico asked," You are injured?"

"Um, no sir."Just for evidence, I raised my arm for inspection. Mr Rico stared at my unmarked skin, then replied,"Then why do I see blood on your clothes?"His question struck me. I looked down and noticed small specks of red on my white jacket. Under the lights, they were livid. Desperate, I tried searching for an explanation.

"Did you fiddle with the lamps, Arvin?"I stared at him dumbstruck. How did he know about my powers?"No, sir, I did not...you see-"

"Do not play a fool with me. I knew you are unusual the moment you and I met. You have an inexplicable aura round you," I looked at him suspiciously. He talked as if he was not a regular mortal. Was he a monster, trying to get at me?"Explain, Arvin, how you managed to heal your wounds so quickly. If you can do that, I believe you are not the culprit."I shifted uncomfortably, not knowing how to reply. His questions were always so fixed and hard to reply. After moments of hard thinking, I gave up. I told him about myself, my life and also my wierd powers. I also told what happened during class and it was not my fault. After what I said, Mr Rico stayed silent. Then he replied," You are indeeed unusual. Do not fret, I will speak to no one about this. I want you to return to class and apologise. Just say you threw something at those lights. Can you do that?"

I stared at him as though him was a nerd. Was it any different to keeping my powers secret? Everyone would soon know about it. However, I nodded my head and followed him back to class. As soon we were nearing class, questions swirled through my mind. What if my powers was made known? What would Geoff say? If we did get into trouble, will he blame me? After all, he was the one who told me to keep our powers a secret. Suddenly, Mr Rico stopped abruptly. His face was a mask of horror and disbelief. I looked ahead and saw a man sitting cross-legged infront of us. His pale brown skin looked as if it was a few thousand years old. His hair was white; he looked muscular despite his age.

Most depressing were the holograpic terms that hovered round him. They looked like Greek terms and they glowed with power as they twirled round the man. Somehow, I regconised those terms: rain, blizzard, hail, snow, thunder, day ,night and many more. The man's eyes were closed as if he was oblivious of our presence. He wore a black windbreaker, a pair jeans and black boots. On his wrists were a pair of straps. We slowly approached the man. His lips parted into a smile, though his eyes remained close."So, what have I got here?One of nature's lovers and a demigod,"the man spoke, voice clearly smirking and taunting.I looked at Mr Rico desperately. Did he just called me a demigod. However, he remained wary of the man. "What do you want?"

"Oh nothing. Just drop by to give you a warning. My, that boy is not just a half-blood, he is most unusual. Do you remember me, boy?I am one of your kin." I stood rooted. What is that guy talking about? Clearly, Mr Rico did not understand his words for he repeated the question. The man just laughed. I feared he might be a psycho."Ah!The boy will know, he will know all right."

"You were supposed to be dead," Mr Rico said. His words startled me. What was happening? However, the man snickered.

"Dead? How could a man of the skies be dead? You are too naive."Then, a name surfaced from my thoughts."Ouranos?"I gasped. It was utterly impossible. In Greek sayings, this god was supposed to be killed by his son, Kronos. What was he doing here? The man smiled as he turned." How pleasant to be recognised. As I said, the boy knows all."

"Leave us alone,"Mr Rico said.

"Didn't I say I dropped by to give you a warning?" The man said as he stood up, his eyes still closed. " The primordials are rising. They thirst for revenge with the Olympians. I am one of them and I will shun you all. Beware." The man was totally a maniac. All he cared was revenge, as I found out. Beside me, Mr Rico produced a giant club, made of wood. It was covered in leaves and he raised it up threateningly. "Kill me eh, just like Gaia? Bah!She was just a fool, using that blasted son of mine to secure her wishes. Well, her moment of luxury had gone and now is mine!"

His eyelids opened and his eyes glowed white hot. A flash of light sparked and hit us, sending us three metres into the open ground out of the linkway. Pain and numbness coursed through my body as I landed. My vision grew red as I struggled to get up. It was noon and the surroundings were scorching and humid. Instinctively, I glared hard at the sun. As the rays converged upon me, the pain subsided and my vision returned to normal. I stood up and saw my clothes were torn and tattered. Smoke sizzled from me. Beside me, Mr Rico groaned as he got up. His club, somehow, had been incinerated. Most likely he had used it to block the attack.

Ouranos approached us casually. His body was giving out constant heat. "Looks like you survived, my boy. You are indeed remarkable. Very soon you will serve me." Then he snapped his fingers. A gust of wind blew near him and morphed into two tornado-like things. Mr Rico's eyes widened. "Storm spirits?" Ouranos smiled, his smile ever so malicious. In a flash of light, he vanished without trace. The storm spirits approached us, crackling with electricity."Do something!"Mr Rico yelled. I stared at him wolfishly. A minute ago, he was trying to protect me; now he was counting on me."What do I do?"

"Use your powers. You have them, don't you?" Just then, the spirits shot a large volt of electricity at us. "Look out!" I yanked at Mr Rico but those volts hit me hard at my chest. Those spirits must have been clever for they shot me with not just one bolt, but many of them. However, I felt fine, maybe even better. My body started glowing white hot as traces of electricity entered me. The spirits shifted uncomfortably when they sensed something was not right. With a final yell, the light on my body gave way, enveloping the surroundings, making it impossible to see. There was a loud hiss and bang before the glow subsided.

There was no sign of those storm spirits. It was as if they had vaporised. I turned and saw Mr Rico hiding behind a sizzling bench. His expression was speechless. "What now?" I asked. Snapping out of his trance, he muttered under his breath. "Chaos,no way."

Then he turned to me and cleared his throat."Now, we go to Camp Half-Blood".


	3. Chapter3:Cyrus

Chapter 3 : Cyrus

**Here is Geoff's point of view. Pleasure reading!**

Dreams swept across my conciousness. These night phantasms were replaced with a vision as clear as vibrant as any waking experience. I saw a tortured sky, black and crimson with smoke. Crows and eagles swirled high above flights of arrows that arched from one side to another of a great battle. Demigods clad in combat armour shouted and yelled as they clashed their weapons against their enemies with every ounce of strength they had leftover. At a corner of the battle, a demigod was sprawled in the clotted mud with a dented helm and bloody mail-his face concealed behind an upthrown arm. An armoured arm entered my view; the gaunlet was so near that it blotted out half the world with polished steel. Like an inexorable machine, the thumb and last three fingers curled into a fist, leaving the trunk of the index finger to point at the downed hero with all the authority of fate itself.

Then the scene changed. I found myself in a place of thorough blackness. "Your destiny awaits," a voice sounded in my head as it reverberated across the surroundings. "What destiny?" I heard myself saying.

"Your destiny to restore the fate of the world. Follow your instincts and do what you must,"the voice softened, now as if a whisper. Then, a man stepped out from the darkness. His face was obscured by the dark but his eyes were noticeable, for they glowed blood-red in the dark, as red as embers; as red as hot burning coals...

I awoke to a cacophony of birds twittering. My entire body ached as I struggled to get up; my head throbbed in unison. I looked around, familarising with the surroundings. I was lying on a mattress in a front porch, overlooking a green scenery of large-plain meadows, together with a few low-rising hills. A waft of air breeze reached my nostrils and I realised it smelled of rich, juicy strawberries.

Despite the magnificent scenery and the lovely smell of the air, I felt a sense of nausea. Recalling through the dreams I had, the dream of the defeated hero worried me the most. What did that represent? Who was that hero? And who was the person who had pointed at him? Thinking of that made me wonder whether that dream was related to me; as I continued to crack my head, I tasted bile in my mouth.

My thoughts was directed to my next dream. That man in the darkness had haunted my entire being. I cannot comprehend what he had said about restoring the fate of the world. The more I thought about it, the more my thoughts became interwined.

My previous encounters returned to me as I regained my senses. The duel with the Lastrygonian and me and Damien running for our lives, while at the same time defending for ourselves. Then, the sounds of someone approaching interrupted my thoughts and I turned around, only to see Damien walking towards me carrying a glass of liquid. He was his true self now. Wearing only an orange camp T-shirt bearing the initials "Camp Half-Blood", both his hind legs were goat limbs: fur-covered and complete with hoofs. His hoofs made hollow sounds as they made contact with the ground. On his head was a pair of medium-sized, rigid and sturdy as they pointed upwards as protrusions of his head. "Damien,"I grunted, acknowledging his presence.

"Call me Grover, ' the young satyr replied as he set the glass beside my mattress. Next, he brought out a chair made of straw and sat next to me."How do you feel?"he asked, nodding his horned head towards me.

"Not good,"I mumbled as I looked at myself. My arms and legs were covered in cuts and bruises. My black shirt was torn and tattered, so was the dark jeans I was wearing. I turned my attention back to Grover, who seemed to be in thought. His thoughts seemed fuzzy while I tried to concentrate on his mind." Where am I?"I threw him a question. The satyr fixed me with his dark eyes.

"The camp-Camp Half-Blood,"was the reply.

"You carried me here all by yourself?"

"No. I called my camp friends to aid me," Grover answered , then gestured towards the glass. Holding up the glass, I noticed it was filled with a perculiar breverage." What is this?" I asked.

"Nectar."I fixed him with a stare as if he was joking. Grover continued to explain."This is a godly drink. Only works for demigods in healing efficiency. Too much will burn you up, so just take a sip or two."I exchanged glances between the drink and Grover, then cautiously put the glass to my lips and sipped a little. The nectar warmed my throat after I swallowed, rejuvenating my senses and my aching limbs. The pain on my bruised limbs also receded. Soon, I was up and ready. "So, this camp is for demigods to live in?" I asked.

Grover nodded before saying," More like a camp dedicated to the children of the gods."Then he said,"Follow me. I shall introduced you to the campers and Chiron." He stood up. I followed him out of the porch out of the porch, along a pathway across the grassy plains till we came to a weird looking house which resembled a ruined farm house. The house looked dilapidated, with battered windows, a broken roof and all. It was in a desperate need of paint. Behind the house was a line of cabins arranged in a rectangular shape. Teenage campers dressed in armour worn over their orange shirts practised swords and archery, played antique sports and engaged in other sorts of routine. A few satyrs ran about, toying with one another. With a mouth opened wide, I gaped around in amazement. This looked like a military camp!

Grover ran towards a centaur who was conversing with two of the campers. At least, he looked like a centaur, with the body of a white stallion and the upper part the body of an ancient man. "I've got him!"Grover announced to them. The centaur turned and looked in my direction. With a beard, he looked old beyond measure. His eyes seemed to pierced into my body as he examined me . I was stunned. It was my first time seeing a centaur and I was awed beyond words. "Greetings, Geoff. I have been looking forward to meeting you. My name is Chiron," the centaur spoke, in a voice that seemed so ancient and wise.

The two other campers approached me: one boy and a girl. The boy was sun-tanned, so he looked dark. Umistakably was his deep sea-green eyes which made me feel unsettled. The boy raised a hand."Percy Jackson, call me Percy." he grasped my hand firmly in a handshake; his grip was like steel."This is Annabeth, my battle companion, " the boy turned and introduced the girl beside him. She was blond-haired and her eyes were a stormy grey. She managed a smile and shook my hand. She seemed to like how Percy called her his battle companion and I figured they were somehow closely related.

Turning to the centaur, I stammered."Um, I got a brother, he-".

"Don't fret, your brother will be brought here on the morrow or the evening. This camp, permanently will be your living quarters. With you being a demigod, the outside would be dangerous. I assume you have met monsters and you have been trying your best to avoid them."

I nodded at his response , at the same time stunned that he knew us so well."Then this camp will be a safe haven for the both of you, as it is magically protected,"Chiron continued. Turning to the other two campers, he said,"Show Geoff around the camp. We will discuss this matter another time." With that, he galloped off, into the nearby woods. Something about Chiron's voice hinted that he did not want to bring up the topic in my presence.

At Percy's beckoning, I followed the two campers to the cabins. Grover followed closely. Judging from their worried expressions, I figured that they had something in their minds which troubled them. Unfortunately, my mind was too bizarre to read their thoughts. "How old are you?"Percy asked as we headed for the cabins.

"Fifteen. My brother is fourteen," I replied casually. The campers halted abruptly and fixed me with surprised stares."Um, I found him quite late,"Grover said immediately.

"You have been in the open for a long time. How do you managed the monsters? Basically, demigods are brought to camp at thirteen,"Annabeth asked coolly. I studied them closely; she seemed to be sixteen while Percy around eighteen.

"We run in such circumstances,"I replied hastily. Percy and Annabeth stared as if I was a fool. However, Percy nodded and continued the walk. As we neared the cabins, I found that they varied from different designs, decorations and colours. They were located near a woods, beside a wide cool lake that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight. Surprisingly, I seemed to know which cabins represent which Greek god judging from their appearances.

Percy went about, explaining and teling me the gods of each cabin, though I felt it was unneccessary. _A son of Poseidon_, I thought as I examined his character. _And a daughter of Athena_. I turned to look at Annabeth, who was watching Percy solemnly. As we rounded the region, demigods turned and looked in our direction. Their faces showed no signs of welcoming and most of them either frowned or scowled. Others resumed their chores, as if a newcomer was much too common for them.

We stopped at Hades's cabin- a cabin with dark, obsidian walls and a front door with fiery green torches and bearing a grinning skull."As much Grover had narrated, You might be a son of Hades, judging from the dark powers you used during your encounter with the Lastrygonian. As soon you are claimed, your accomodation will be here," Annabeth pointed out.

I blinked at the group in surprise. Since young, Arvin and me learnt that our parents were dead, so how could our father be the Underworld god? It was ridiculous!"Look,I-"I tried to explain but was interrupted by shouts. Turning around, I saw three campers approaching us. Two of them were boys and the other a girl. They ore the same orange shirts; dressed in Greek armour, they looked fearsome.

Of the two boys, one was taller, with curly spiky black hair and crazy grin. His skin was dark. Percy pointed to him and introduced. "Leo Valdez, Hephaestus's son. We call him Firesword as he has powers over fire." The boy grinned and answered in a mischievous voice." Yeah! I liked that. Nice to meet you."

Poiting to th chocolate brown-haired girl, Percy intoned. "Piper Mclean, daughter of Aphrodite." The girl smiled demurely.

"These two have been a great help,er, during the rise of the giants," Percy continued. That sounded intereting to me and I wished I was there to witness that. Turning to the younger boy, Percy said,"This is Cyrus. Currently he has not been claimed. Like you, he is a newcomer; just arrived last month." I observed the younger boy. Apparently, he looked different from the rest. His eyes were red, I mean, only the irises were crimson. His hair looked dishevelled, but nonetheless it was jet black. He had high cheekbones and his skin was pale.

Despite being the youngest, his face portrayed a sign of nonchalance. Just the look of him made me thought of the man in my dreams. I shivered at that thought. Until then did I realised the other campers were looking above my head; looking up, I saw nothing.

Annabeth sighed and turned to Percy. "No sign of claiming yet." Percy cursed in Greek and messed up his hair.

"Not again. What are the gods up to? Do they want another Titan war?" he complained. I looked at him squarely.

" Maybe later, I am sure they will be claimed," Piper answered. Nodding in agreement, Percy turned to me and said,"It seems that you have not been claimed. Usually, most demigods will be claimed immediately once they are brought to camp. However, it seemed you and Cyrus are exceptions. Nevertheless, as Piper said, you will be claimed sooner or later." Turning to Cyrus, he said," Cyrus, show him where you stay. Be sure to be present with him at the dining pavilion at evening."

" Sure." Then Percy stalked off, heading for the fighting arena. They others followed him. Leo flashed me a lunatic grin and gave a friendly punch."Stay cool," he said before catching up with the rest, leaving me behind with Cyrus. Putting a hand on my shoulder Cyrus said in a meek tone. "Come, I'll show you your quarters."

We walked along path which wound around the woods until we came across another cabin. Seperated from the rest, it looked isolated. It was unlike the others with neither designs nor paint. Basically, it resembled a simple tool shed made of wood."This?"I asked.

"Percy called it the unclaimed cabin. Those who are unclaimed stay here. Currently I was the only one and now you came. you should have seen the Hephaestus campers; they built it within minutes," Cyrus smiled wearily. I did not complain much; at least, I had somewhere to stay. Together, we sat on a log near the cabin.

"You mentioned you were the oly one. Don't you feel lonely?" I asked.

"When I first arrived, yes. Not until I made friends with Nico-"

"Who?" I queried.

"A son of Hades. He is not in camp now." I thought back of the black cabin. Then I asked again. " Do you have parents?"

Cyrus shook his head." No, I never knew my parents since I was borned." His red eyes seemed remorse for once. _He was like Arvin and me_, I thought. Suddenly, Cyrus brought his hand to his nose and sneezed. When he was done, I saw his hand was covered in minuscule metallic objects.

I raised my eyes in curiosity." What are those?" Never in my life did I saw someone sneezing out such stuff. Cyrus quickly hid his hand, clearly hesitating." Um, better not tell."

" Just tell me." Cyrus looked at me, his face troubled.

" You promise you will tel no one?"

" Of course," I rose my chin indignantly. Cyrus opened his palm and looked at the ojects again. " Antimatter," he replied, pronouncing the word softly.

" What?" I asked, flabbergasted. It was said such stuff, when come in contact with flammable fuels and cause massive annihilation. How could someone be sneezing out such dangerous stuff? It was beyond imagination!

" Are you kidding?" I asked incredulously. Cyrus shook his head in response. He seemed to be in a difficult situation. Then, he sat upright al of a sudden, as if he was struck by lightning."You have a brother, don't you"

_Is he trying to change the topic?_I wondered before nodding my head in agreement."Well, he has arrive at camp."Now, I stared at him awestruck. Was Cyrus psychic? How could he have known?

"How did you-"I started to ask I frowned. "What are your powers?" This guy was really making feel creeps.

" My powers have always been a mystery. I can control different type of elements but I have never told anyone, because I don't trust them."

Cyrus turned his red eyes towards me." However, you seemed trustable and so I shall tell you." With that, he took a deep breath."Cosmo," he whispered." I control the cosmos."

As soon as he said it, his eyes seemed to glow, becoming redder and redder, until they looked as hot as magma...

**Here is my story so far. What do you think? Please review! I would welcome suggestions.**


	4. Chapter 4:Radiance, sword of light

Chapter 4: Radiance(Sword of elemental light)

**I feel this is getting really interesting as the climax is surfacing. I'm sure you know which gods are Geoff and Arvin related to. Cyrus, well you should know too. Anyway, things become haphazardous when a Chaos Warrior appear in this chapter. Arvin's sword will be revealed reading!**

**Arvin's point of view:**

It wasn't easy as it seems getting to the camp as there were numerous obstructions along the way. We frequently came across packs of ferocious hellhounds, which Mr Rico assumed came from the Underworld. "The Underworld is currently under attack by mysterious forces. Hades is having a hard time overcoming them; it is not a surprise to see some of the Underworld creatures escaping,"he replied grimly when I asked. Silently, I wondered if it was related to the rising primordials. Apparently, we had to keep our guard for the hounds had an acute sense of smell and hearing. Fortunately, they did not seem to notice us as most of them were foraging the garbage for food. Mortals coming across them completely ignored the monstrous beasts, probably because they perceived them as wild dogs due to the Mist.

On our way to the camp, Mr Rico revealed his true form. He was not a regular mortal but a tree nymph. Caught taken aback by his confession, I asked uncomprehendingly,"Aren't all tree nymphs females?"At that time, we were riding a public bus to Long Island.

"Bah! In your dreams,"he snorted angrily."My kind consists of both males and females but we do not mate; we just propagate from the spirits of trees. We males hardly do anything but poised as vegetation. For the females, they flirt a lot. Capricious, they are. Anyway, I found you when I was a small bush near your school and it seem right for me to bring you here."

He was stil in his human form, wearing the brown suit and dark pants but his eyes were a deep shade of leafy green. He smelt of fresh pines from a tree. I did not remember any of these characteristics when he was posing as a teacher at my school.

He told me of the camp that we were heading for, which I still felt reluctant about going there as it meant abundoning my old life; however, when Mr Rico told me that Geoff would be brought there, I felt relieved almost immediately. At least I would not be alone in that strange camp.

As we journeyed across the barren sands of a countryside, I could not help thinking back to what the ancient sky god, Ouranos had said, about me being a demigod and the primordials preparing to destroy the world. More or less, I was fearful and panicky when he mentioned about bringing the entire world down.

I tried pestering Mr Rico for answers but he merely frowned and refused to talk when this topic was brought out. All that he told me was me having the blood of a god and that made me a demigod, which I felt confusing and difficult to understand. After travelling for a few more miles, the bus shuddered to a halt at a desolate bus stop. Looking around, I realised that we were the last passengers on board.

"Time to get off, guys. I am turning back,"the bus driver told us. Alighting, I turned to look at my surroundings. According to what Mr Rico said, this stop was five miles from our destination. All around us were wide grassy plains that seemed so lustrous in the sunlight. To the west was a gloomy, dark piece of woods.

Pointing to the woods, Mr Rico said , "That's where we'r heading." I looked closely into the forest but saw no sign of any camp."I don't see anything."

"That's because the camp is protected by a border of magic that prevents mortals, or sometimes even demigods from seeing it."

"So that explains why the bus swerved off in another direction despite having a road that continued to that jungle," I concluded while noding my head to the extended portion of the pebbled road which went on till the woods.

Mr Rico nodded in agreement before saying,"Actually, there's no forest over there. It's just an illusion that helps deter mortals away from Camp-Half Blood. If you focus closely, you should be able to notice that. It works only for demigods, but it is highly impossible to regular humans."

I tried following Mr Rico's instruction by concentrating at a single spot of the entire forest. Then, as if almost an illusion, the forest vanished without a trance, leaving behind a splendid view."That is the camp?" I gasped, bewildered by what I saw. Mr Rico nodded an affirmative.

After us, the grassy plains continued for over a few mies before it sloped down to form gigantic hills, adjacent to each other like evergreen cones. Located at the base of the hills was Camp-Half Blood. From far, I caught a glimpse of a number white buildings in a distant. At the north of the camp laid a vast ocean, which seemed so mighty just by staring at the distant waves crashing against the shore.

_I must be_ _dreaming_, I wondered to myself. I turned to Mr Rico, eager to ask more questions when I saw he was bahaving strangely. His body was tensed and he seemed to be staring at our right instead of the camp. His expression was wary and puzzled. I followed his gaze and my eyes fell upon a black figure strolling towards us. For once, I thought it was a hellhound that had traced out here but as the approacher came closer, I saw it was humanoid.

"We have company," mumbled Mr Rico, his eyes still glued on the person._Could it be another god?_I asked myself, while at the same time preparing myself for the worst.

A few feet from us, the person seemed distinguishable. He wore a black leather vest that seemed to be made of ox hides and a pair of black tattered and torn jeans. Behind his back was a dark cape that fluttered wildly in the wind. He wore dark gloves that had small studs attached to them and on his face, he wore a silver mask that seemed to grin down a us maliciously. Through the dimly-lit eye slits of his mask, I was unable to see his eyes.

_Thud! Thud! Thud!_ His black boots sounded on the ground as he made his ways towards us. Then he waved his hands and a dark, smoky sword appeared in his right palm. Mr Rico and I recoiled at the sight of the weapon. It was as if it was weaved out of thin air. Strangely, the weapon had a hazy outline but still, it seemed solid enough for hacking off limbs.

Suddenly, the person stopped when he was only a few metres away from us. Then he raised his left hand till his palm was facing us. It took only a few seconds when Mr Rico yelled,"Dodge!"

For a microsecond, we lunged out of the spot we had been standing before it erupted in black flames. Mr Rico rolled on the ground before standing up and producing two weapons made of wood: a bow and a spear. As I strugged to stand, he tossed the spear to me which I caught in my hands."Fight!" he shouted. I stared at him as if he was pulling my leg. Never in my life had I used a spear for sparring. "But I- ,"I started to say but stopped when I heard the swishing of a high powered sword behind my back.

Instictively, I dodged the slash and turned to face the dark attacker._How did he manage to get at my back that fast?_ I wondered aloud. He brought up his sword to my face with a half-moon slash and I parried with my spear. Both weapons collided with a throb before the tip of my spear snapped under the impact.

I staggered back as I stared at my broken spear, dismayed by the loss._Yeah, so much for a wood_ _weapon_, I thought. behind me, Mr Rico shot an arrow at the attacker but he just deflected it with a swipe of his sword with inhumane speed. Then he shot black fire at Mr Rico, who dodged that just as quick.

Taking my chance, I whirred my broken spear towards his head, hitting him hard on his neck, forcing him to withdraw. I lunged again, now aiming for his legs. However, he swung his sword to block the attack, then twisted it to yank the spear off my hands. He then swirled his cape and suddenly, I was on my back, lying on the ground.

" Arvin!" I heard Mr Rico's panicked voice before seeing the dark attacker towering over me, his sword poised for the final blow. I held out my bare arms in fear. Then, there was a sharp whistling and two loud thuds. I gazed up and saw two arrows protruding from the attacker's belly as he staggered away from me.

Lowering his bow, Mr Rico shouted," Here's your chance!" Heat coursed through me as I concentrated on the powers within myself. My gut tightened as I formed a sphere of light in my hands. Directing my fingers, I flung the attack at the enemy, which hit him on his neck, tossing him backwards a few metres.

Groaning, I trotted towards Mr Rico hurriedly." This is strange. If it is a monster, it should disintegrate by now," Mr Rico muttered to himself. At first, I didn't understand what he meant but my eyes widened in disbelief when I saw the enemy getting up casually and heading towards us again, sword in hand. The arrows were still stuck at hid abdomen. Mos surprisingly was that he walked as if he had not suffered from any injuries.

"What the-" I gaped at him. Mr Rico shifted uneasily as he nocked another arrow. As he walked, the attacker swirled his left hand and a shield of blackness formed on his hand. Then he charged towards us, shield and sword ready. His mask seemed to bore down on us, nevertheless intimidated us.

Snarling, Mr Rico fired another arrow at him while I repeated my attack, now hurling the light orb towards his head. His shield raised and the arrow glanced of it, breaking into pieces; then my light orb impact on it, only to be deflected to an oak tree, which exploded into flames.

With a large swipe of his sword, the enemy sent a pure blast of force that pushed us backwards, sending us tumbling on the ground. My vision flashed red and white as I landed. Dull pain filled my body as I struggled upwards. Growling, Mr Rico tried to get up but ended up toppling over._His attacks have sapped our energy_, I realised as I flexed my exhausted arms. As the attacker converged upon us, I could'n help thinking bitterly._ So, that's it, my life ends here?_

Suddenly, a mental conciousness swept through my thoughts. I froze as a strange feeling filled me and a voice echoed in my head."Do not give up, you are not out of options yet," it mentioned, sounding of a penchant tone, slow-saying yet majestic and ancient. Almost a split second, a pillar of light appeared a few metres to my right and out of nowhere, a glittering gold sword appeared in the middle of the plains.

I stared at the distant sword, awe-struck. Then, my eyes followed the attacker's sword, which was whistling towards my face. Using whatever remaining energy I had left, I dodged his attack. In the meantime, Mr Rico fired more arrows at him, but to no avail as the enemy raised his shield for defense."Go!Arvin, get the sword!" Mr Rico yelled as he kept on firing. Ignoring my exhaustion, I rushed towards the magnificent sword which was stuck upright on the earth. It was a real beauty and yet threatening as I beheld it. Its blade-about a metre long-seemed to glow under the sunlight, reflecting as much light as it could, making it sparkle in the day. While the edge of the metal was gold, its centre was pure silver. The cross-guard was leaf-shaped goldand on its pommel, a large yellow diamond sat encrusted upon it, shimmering under the hot sun.

Grasping its hilt, I was surprised to find that it fitted my hand perfectly and despite its large size, it was light to the hold." Wield Radiance, vanquish all evil, purify the world with light,"the voice whispered again before fading into dust. Yanking the sword off the ground, I examined the blade closely. On the blade itself, inscribed on the metal were the words: I am Radiance, avatar of light; lightbringer; dawn of the wake.

With Radiance in one hand, I turned my attention to Mr Rico. Apparently, he had ran out of arrows and was dodging the enemy's slashings and stabbings with nimble footsteps. Raising the glowing sword, I yelled as I charged at the masked attacker. Turing his attention to me, he raised his black sword to fend off me. Our blades clashed with a single pure note. Swerving to his right, I swung the sword towards his head with all my might. Bringing out his shield, he tried to block it but Radiance slashed through it into half as if it was a piece of paper, then continued onwards till it hit the rim of his mask.

There was a deafening smash as if something fragile had broken, I retreated as fragments of his mask flew in all direction. While holding Radiance, I noticed his edge was covered with blood._Blood?_I wondered aloud. Then I looked at my attacker's face and gasped in horror.

Half his mask had been broken, yet the othe half remained attach to his left side of his face. His right side was raw and boody. However, the features of a typical male teenager was unmistakable. His malicious eyes stared at me, with every moment piercing into my entire being. Upon seeing this, Mr Rico stood rooted to the ground. All the while we had thought it was a monster who had ambushed us, but standing before us was a...teenage guy.

Then, a war horn sounded in the distance. Glancing in the camp's direction, I caught a glimpse of numerous campers clad in armour exiting the camp and heading in our direction. Glancing back at the guy, his expression was impassive. However, the muscles of his jaw stretched and his lips pulled apart, clearly smirking at his. Then he raised his sword and before we knew it stabbed himself in the chest. His face bore no agony when the weapon impaled him. Next his body began disintegrating into black powder. While his face continued to smirk, it crumbled and broke apart into black ashes, which fell to the ground. His sword and remnants of his shield also turned to black dust, leaving nothing behind.

We continued to stand there at the spot where the body had disintegrated, shocked by what we had seen, unable to move while the campers of Camp-Half Blood ran up towards us.

**So there is chapter 4. What do you think of the Chaos warrior? What about the sword, Radiance? I am sure you want to know why the Chaos Warrior is a teenager; well, more info will be on the next chapter. Please review!**


	5. Chapter5: Premonitions of Doom

**Chapter 5: Premonitions of Doom**

**Reniuon of both Geoff and Arvin! But there is more to it. The appearance of the Chaos warrior was a harbinger of imminent doom for the camp. Can the campers prepare themselves for the worse?**

**Geoff's point of view:**

I could not have been so relieved to see Arvin still safe and sound. Like me, his clothes were torn and tattered, splattered with gore and mud. His hair was so dishevelled that it looked like he had not combed it for weeks. From the look of it, I figured he had been involved in numerous predicaments while being alone in the outside. He was still wearing his white jacket, yellow shirt and blue jeans, only that the worn-out clothes made him looked like a ragamuffin. His arms were covered in scratches and cuts, but otherwise he seemed unhurt. That was more than I could have bargained for.

As I and the rest of the campers ran up the hill to where Arvin was, I was heaving and panting, trying to struggle feely while the weight of my heavy armour restricted my movements. Cursing softly, I tried to readjust my helm, which was making me feel so uncomfortable that I yearned to remove it from my head. However, Chiron had insisted that all of us should be properly armoured before we immersed ourselves in any battles to come. Till now, I had not realise that living in this camp would mean having to face all kinds of raging battles for the rest of my life. Just contemplating this made my stomach convulsed.

Examining the shield and sword I was holding, I then realised how old they looked, as well as the armour I was wearing. The shield and armour both looked as if they had been used for a thousand times as scratches and dents could be easily spotted. As for the sword I was holding, the metal gave a dull glow and its edges were chipped. Chiron had mentioned that the metal was Celestial Bronze, deadly to monsters but harmless to regular , I doubted that these war equipments would last long enough._ If I went into battle carrying these pieces of junk, I would no sooner be a dead corpse,_ I thought to myself sourly as we proceeded.

Apparently, when the camp sentries on duty spotted a fight happening at the top of the hill, Chiron had immediately gathered the campers near the lake where he shared with us the news. At that time, I still doubted Cyrus's ability in foretelling that Arvin had arrived at camp, but when Chiron told us that one of the two figures seen fighting with a dark opponent was wearing white, I could not help but acknowledged his powers. It was a stir of moment when I informed Chiron about Arvin and that he had immediately gathered a smal force to provide aid.

I stole a glance at the rest of the campers around me. Most of them bore steely and determined looks as they ran. Leading the horde of campers were Percy and Annabeth, with Chiron galloping by their side. Percy held a glittering blue sword as he sprinted and a shield that seemed so different from the shields the rest of us were holding.

Unlike our plain bronze shields, his shield had graphics on it and it seemed attached to an object on his wrist. Glancing at Cyrus, who was running alongside me, I noticed he had two swords strapped to his back and he carried no shield.

"Why is Percy's sword so different from the rest?"I asked Cyrus as we headed towards the peak.

"That sword-Riptide-was given as a gift to Percy by his godly father." Hearing that, I wondered what gods Arvin and I were related to. It seemed so strange that we were demigods, while since young we had learnt that our parents had died.

"What about yours?"I asked again. This time, he held his breath. Whenever he did this, I was sure he was feeling hesitant for telling the truth." I received them when I was very young."

Curious, I tried prying his mind with my powers but all I got saw was blackness."Do they have names?"I asked while eyeing the swords on his back. There was the sound of metal sliding against shealth as he drew his swords. The blades were of different hues and sizes. One of them was red, the colour of wine and iridescent under the sunlight. It was a slim blade, graceful yet formidable. A red ruby sat on the middle of its crossguard.

The other sword had a broad shape starting from the crossguard that narrowed into a sharp tip. It was the colour of silver and it gleamed in the sunlight like moonstones. On its pommel was a gem as clear as mountain spring."Cosmic and Power,"Cyrus whispered, holding the silver and red swords respectively.

I was capivated by the threatening beauty of both swords. "Are they gifts from gods too?"I could not help asking. Cyrus just clamped his mouth shut and refused to speak."Are you ambidexterous?" I intoned, trying to change the topic.

"I just kind of feel comfortable while fighting with two swords,"Cyrus answered while staring at the swords. Then he shealthed them back and looked ahead. I continued staring at Cyrus. From my previous encounters with him, I could feel a sign of melancholy and a massive power emanating from him. Isolated and shy he might be, Cyrus was not the one to be trifled with.

When we reached the top of the hill, the smell of charred grass was hard to miss. Patches of grass was ablaze with black fire, which flickered and glowed eerily as they burnt their way through the vegetation. At close proximity, an oak tree was engulfed in a towering wall of midnight flames. Parts of the tree that were burnt had not turned into ashes, but into a black liquid that simmered as it fell to the gound. An obnoxious smell hung in the air and instictively, I held my hand to my nose.

"Geoff!"a voice sailed over the grassy plains and I noticed Arvin rushing towards me. I drew him into an embrace, crying tears of relief as I clung to him before releasing my grip upon the gaze of the other campers. Arvin teared too but his lips parted into a smile."It's good to be together again,"he whispered. I nodded at his saying, while treasuring this moment.

There was the sound of rustling grass as the campers of Camp Half-Blood approached. As far I could tell, an evil aura had remained at this place and from the campers' grim looks, they appeared to be withstanding it. Then Chiron trotted over, and in a monotone introduced himself to Arvin as well as briefed him about the camp. Arvin's face showed a sign of expressionless when he came face to face with the centaur. When he finished, the campers introduced themselves one by one. Their names washed over me like a flood and I found myself struggling to remember them. Only the counsellors' name seemed significant for Cyrus had personally introduced me to them. Among this horde, there were only a few counsellors:Connor and Travis Stoll from Hermes; Annabeth from Athena.

During the exchange, I noticed a young man dressed in brown suit and dark pants standing beside Arvin. He was stout and looked almost mortal except for his mystic green eyes which gave him away. Chiron then turned to speak to both of them, mouthing his words slowly." I apologise for the delay of our aid, but since you are now under no threat, I assumed you can give us a full account of what had happened." Thereafter, both of them started their recount, beginning with what happened at Arvin's school. The details were so inexplicable, unexpected and hard to believe. The fact that the man had posed as Arvin's teacher in order to escort him to camp was not strange however, as Grover had befriended me the moment we met.

When the pair brought up about Ouranos, there were muffled gasps from the campers. Even Percy and Annabeth grew as white as sheet; however, Chiron merely furrowed his brows and continued listening. I was taken aback too._If a long dead god had been revive, it would spell further devastations. _The duo continued on till they reached the part about battling against the dark enemy. We were even more alarmed to hear that the enemy was someone of our age and he had 'killed' himself to escape. Once they were done, our eyes fell onto the pile of black ashes near us; some of the campers' faces bore sicken looks. Chiron then addressed the man personally,"I am grateful for your help in directing Arvin to the camp, tree nymph. Without you, he would never be safe from dangers."

"It was the right thing to do. Nonetheless, I am honoured,"came the reply.

Percy surveyed the situation grimly before turning to Chiron. "Whoever the mastermind was, it was clear that he had usen mere younsters as his peons; if what Arvin and this man says is true and that the Primordials are rising to bring down the world, we must be on our guard for these gods may attack our camp and subsequently the Olympians so as to ease their work. Now that Ouranos had risen, it would be more dangerous fighting him than Gaia."

"I agree," Annabeth said and the other campers nodded in approval. Chiron stroke his beard as he pondered. " I fear Percy may be right. Nevertheless, we must fortify our camp to resist their doings. In the meantime, we must think of a way to thwart their plans. Jake, will you inform your counsellor regarding these fortifications?"

A boy of nineteen years wearing solid armour stood out from the group. He was a burly guy with calloused hands."The Hephaetus cabin would be honoured. I will inform counsellor Leo right after we returned." Chiron turned his eyes to the pile of ashes before saying," It is indeed cruel to use mortals to do one's battle, especially if they were youngsters. They should not be involved in our matters." He then bent and examined the remains."From what I can sensed from the enemy's essence, he was no demigod but a regular mortal, manipulated and forced to do battle by a mind of greater power. Long had he been dead but his body was exploited for evil usage. This must be stopped or the world would no doubt collapsed."

"May I?"a voice sounded from the campers. We all turned and saw a spike-haired guy-fifteen years of age- raising up his hand. Around his armour, he wore talismans, pendants and charms while his on his right index finger he wore a large gold ring with a ruby encased on it.

"Speak if you must, Morris of the Hecate cabin,"Chiron answered.

Before speaking, the boy held his hand up and a staff appeared on his palm. On the wood was inscribed with glypes no one can comprehend. Morris pointed the staff at the remains before saying,"The enemy had undoubtly used dark magic but the magic is sorcery, forbidden in usage by Hecate. In another saying, it is called Free magic which involves summoning dark essence of the abyss that none of us magicians had dared attempt to use for it may consumed our bodies if inappropriately used. Free magic is more cunning, more fearsome than normal magic and it can kill mercilessly. Hence, it looks like we are dealing with a mastermind not only held great power but specialised in the dark arts."His ornates clang on his armour as he spoke, the sounds sounding of funeral bells. All around, the campers grew pale after hearing what Morris had mentioned.

Chiron then spoke,"I appreciate that you have brought out this critical piece of news, Morris. We will heed your warning; but the Hecate cabin must play a part in opposing this mastermind." Morris bowed in return, then replied,"I understand." Now, Chiron turned to Arvin.

"You have not told us of the sword you are holding,"he inquired. I suddenly noticed Arvin was holding a glowing gold sword. Surprisingly, the sword resembled those of Cyrus's, complete with jewels and all that added a touch to the weapons such that they seemed worth a value. All the campers looked awed by the magnificence of the weapon, except Cyrus who looked at it as if the sight was much too common. I, too, was marvelled by the glorious sword._Where did Arvin obtain it?_ As far I could say, we never had such a valuable weapon in our possession. I looked at him for an explanation.

Arvin then told us of how he had gotten hold of the weapon: about the voice urging him to fight on and how the sword had appeared admist the fighting in a shower of light and heat. There was a hint of suspicion on Chiron's face when he finished. "Cool! A sword made of Celestial bronze and normal gold, capable of slashing flesh and monsters,"cooed Jake.

"Yeah, same like Backbiter," said Connor and turning to his brother with a mischievous look, he asked,"Should we?" Percy and Annabeth then gave them looks of annoyance, which shut them up immediately. Finally, Chiron stamped his hoofs impatiently. "Enough! We must return to camp for it is geting late. Everyone move out!"

There were grunts and huffs as the campers retreated their steps, once more heading back for the camp. Arvin and the stocky man followed Chiron as the centaur galloped downhill."Come on,"Cyrus urged as he started to follow.

Once more, I looked round the desolate hill, staring hard at the remains of the dark enemy before I headed back to camp. A series of thoughts weaved in my head, so interwined that I was quickly overwhelmed by them. Glancing at the peak of another distant hill, I could have sworn I noticed a dark figure watching us closely as our group moved together back to camp...

**Notice I had introduced sorcery in this chapter; it had been quite fun writing about it! Well, a battle is inevitable and the demigods of Camp Half Blood had to fend for themselves. Don't be surprise by the outcome, though.**


	6. Chapter6:Mass Fortifications

**Chapter 6:Mass Fortification**

**This is the tense moment for Camp Half Blood is about to be attacked. Pleasure reading!**

**Arvin's point of view:**

"Why didn't you tell them about Chaos?" I asked Mr Rico curiously as we sat on a hedge surrounded by thorny hawthorns overlooking the fighting arena.

"Because,"the tree nymph hesitated before proceeding,"I had no reason to."

I frowned at his reply. Clearly this was not the answer I was expecting. Chaos, from what I had known, was a highly powerful god that promised destruction for anyone who dared oppose him. Now that the creator of the universe had roused to bring down the world, he could just do so with a wave of his finger."Mr Rico-"I started to say but held back as he raised a hand.

"In this world I am known as Sap. Please acknowledge me with that,"he told me.

"Isn't it dangerous if Chaos wanted to destroy this world?Why woudn't you tell them?We must stop him before it is too late."

"It is still unsure whether Chaos is behind all this. When you first heard me mentioning his name, it was just my hypothesis, my prediction after Ouranos had brought up about the primordials. Chaos is a an ancient god of the ancients and had been in deep slumber ever since and the rising of the primordials had led me to associating with him. Think, if we were to tell the camp about this, wouldn't it will ensue mass panic?"

He was right. The campers would not have taken to this seriously if the news were to spread. Sap continued to speak."In the meantime, let the camp assume it is just an unusual evil source lurking behind all this. Enough evidence must processed before we let everyone know about this."

I nodded before returning my gaze to the fighting arena. From there clashes of swords against swords could be heard as the campers duel against one another. At that moment still my thoughts were complex and an unsettled feeling overwhelmed me. Anxiety, worriedness as well as uneasiness clawed at my being at the thought of the prospect that the world would soon fall and I would lose all I had known: Geoff... friends... relatives. _This must be stopped, _I gritted my teeth as I thought. I thought back to the dark opponent we had fought and I could still see his malicious mask boring down on me. After all, all that had transpired had not seem good.

"Forgive me if I must,"Sap interrupted,"for I must return to my domain as soon as I can."

"When were you be returning?"

"When the time seems right,"came the reply. Then waving his hand in a farewell gesture, Sap disappeared in a midst of green mist. I continued to sit there, pondering as my thoughts got the better of me. All around, the landscape became darker as evening approached. Then the sounds of approaching footsteps alerted my attention and I whirled around, only to see a young teenage male camper, whose eyes glowed like that of the radiance of rubies."It's time for your arms training,"Cyrus said.

Nodding my head, I picked up my golden sword,Radiance and followed him to the arena. Strangely, I felt calmer as I walked beside him. Ever since Geoff introduced me to Cyrus, I had taken an interest on him. He was different from the rest and whenever he went he had a calm demeanor, which seemed soothing. All the same, apart from this personality, he had this other personality he had yet to reveal. It was wierd, to know that he had a different self when he did not show it. "You know, he was right,"Cyrus muttered abruptly.

"Who was right?"I asked unsurely.

"That tree nymph. It could have been no one else but Chaos."

"You talked as if you knew Chaos,"I glared at him suspiciously, also furious that he had overheard us.

"That's because I feel it,"Cyrus replied, his face expressionless as we neared the entrance. The entrance was made of fine white marble, neatly carved and shaped till it gave a sophisticated pattern. At either sides were two fire torches, illuminating the surroundings."Feel what?"I asked again.

"An evil aura back there. Morris was right too; there seemed to be an evil presence. It was mighty, so powerful as if it could control...anything...like the universe 's what I felt." I swallowed my saliva as my suspicion flared. Geoff had mentioned his powers _in secret_, that he could control the cosmo. Cyrus caught me eyeing on him." I know you find it strange... but the dark opponent you fought, his powers and abilities resembled that of a Chaos warrior."

My eyes widened as I heard the name."They are warriors sworn to obey Chaos, uphold his powers and even battle for him. In return, Chaos gave them a fraction of his powers. They can be anything, humans, insects or animals. When they die, they live their essence behind and their bodies disintegrate. However they are difficult to kill for they feel no pain."

"How do you know all these?"I blurted. Then I pointed an accusing finger at him." You'r working for Chaos, aren't you. A spy," I asked apprehensively. This time Cyrus stopped walking and he turned to face me, magma eyes flaring.

"If I were one of them, I would have killed you right away. I am just telling you my thoughts, my feelings. Didn't Geoff tell you I can control the cosmo; well, that dark opponent emitted the power of cosmo, of course I can detect it. All the while, it makes me thinks Chaos is the one. All my life I had been an orphan, till this camp found me. I didn't even know where I lived, who my parents were...and I didn't even know who I am."His voice trailed off at the last sentence. With that he turned and stormed into the arena.

I stood there, stunned by his sudden outburst. I knew I had upset him. Whatever he had said seemed truthful and I knew I had not the right to suspect him._He had only wanted to help,_I realised. His last words affected me greatly, causing me to think of Geoff and myself. Cyrus's life, surprisingly, had been the same as our's and...that led to my last thought: _Who are we?_

As we entered the arena, my somberness faded as I beheld the sight. The arena was bigger than any stadiums; at the sides of its border were armouries containing numerous Celestial bronze weapons ranging from melee to projectile, heavy shields and full armour sets.

The arena was divided into parts,and for every part campers practised a different sort of military training ranging from archery to swords fighting. The night was interrupted by a myriad of bustling noises as the campers trained themselves in full battle armour. Chiron had told us to prepare ourselves for he knew a war was inevitable. Nevertheless, despite being worried and fearful, the campers were determined to protect the camp.

At one far end, Hephaestus campers were busy setting up the defense systems. Having only the strenght of forty campers in their cabin, they were marvelous. I watched as they pulled huge tons of boulders with ancient machineries to the camp's borders to construct a wall. Some were laying out scorpions, balistae and catapults while most of them were at work at the forge, crafting new weapons like Greek fire and forging them was their counsellor Leo who seemed to be enjoying himself. Jake Mason was beside him, discussing as they studied bulletins. Judging from the rate at they were going, no doubt they can finished in a few hours.

I followed Cyrus to the swords fighting sector, struggling as I held Radiance. Though it fitted me nicely, the sword weighed a ton, which made me wondered how was I supposed to fight with it. I caught a glimpse of Annabeth and Piper who were fencing at a far corner admist the campers.

Cyrus walked over to Percy who dueling with Geoff, their armours clanking as they parried and dealt blows. Both of them held shields. Finally, Percy collided his sword Riptide into geoff's shield, forcing him to crumple for the umpteeth time. Before Geoff could react, Percy had the tip of his sword at his neck. Geoff muttered a curse as he laid on the ground.

"Not bad for a beginner," Percy grinned as he held out a hand. As Geoff grasped it, he pulled him to his feet." We stopped for now," Percy said as he turned to Cyrus."Any sign of claiming?"

When Cyrus shook his head, he sighed. Apparently, he looked downcast."Looks like you three are an exception. You are not ordinary demigods." I shivered as I heard his words."However, that would mean you need more intensive training. Arvin, you will now duel Cyrus. Frankly speaking, Cyrus was the best swordsman I had ever met." I stole a glance at Cyrus, who ignored my gaze.

"Are you two alright?" Percy asked with concern.

"Um, yeah we are fine, " I replied hastily as Geoff threw me a curious look.

"Well then, let's begin" Percy replied witha feeble smile. After donning our armours, cyrus and me stood facing each other at a distance. In his hands, he held his red and crystal swords while I wielded Radiance. In my other hand, I held a shield similar to Geoff's.

Both of us settled in our starting positions. For a minute or two, we stood staring at each other, attempting to anticipate and read each other thoughts. Then, with a yell, I lunged forward and drew Radiance in a stabbing frenzy.

Putting his swords in a cross position, Cyrus stopped my blade, then threw his arms high causing me to lose my balance. I tried regaining my posture and attempted to slash him at his legs. However Cyrus retreated quickly as his hands twirled his swords in a spinning motion. The next thing I knew, he threw his red sword Power upwards in my direction while he attacked with his remaining sword at my right. As Cosmic was bigger in size, it clashed with Radiance with a defeaning tone, jarring my shoulder.

"Arvin, watch out!" Percy shouted. Looking up, I saw Power hurtling towards me, its tip aiming for my eyes. Instictively, I held up my shield and felt the wine-red sword glanced of it. Cyrus immediately grabbed it as it fell, then exchanged swords in both his hands. This time, he slashed Power towards my right flank. I brought up Radiance to fend it off, only to see Cosmic crashing my shield at my left. There was a sharp rap of pain at my wrist and losing my footing, I fell to the ground in a tangled heap. Raising my shield, I saw it was dented due to the impact Cosmic caused. Awestruck, I looked at Cyrus, whose face was solemn as he stepped back._He was good._

" You all right, Arvin?"Percy asked as he came over. I nodded as I struggled to stand up." Your emotions got the better of you. Try relaxing your mind and let your insticts flowed. Do not be so hasty," Percy explained. I grunted as I flexed my wrist, which was turning blue black.

As I braced myself, Geoff tossed me his shield."Remember what I said. Now try again,"Percy said as he stepped back. We continued dueling for hours. I tried to catch Cyrus off guard but to no avail each time. He seemed so calm and nimble, yet his attacks were graceful and sleek. As the hours past, Radiance grew heavier in my arm as I tried to get myself steady. At last when Percy called for a stop, my limbs were covered in bruises and I was panting heavily. Cyrus eyed me heavily as he shealthed his swords, his face boring no exhaustion."You did great. I am confident you and Geoff can at least hold back a bunch of monsters,"Percy mentioned.

"Yeah right,"I muttered.

"Sort yourselves out. Dinner time is round the corner,"Percy clapped our backs as he told us._So much for a late dinner_,I thought. That was when the war horn sounded, low-pitched yet loud, though it carried a sense of dread._Not now,_I thought desperately as panic coursed through me. The horn sounded again. Then again.

For a moment, the entire camp was silent, saved from the crackling of flame torches. Then chaos broke out as Campers rushed to prepare themselves. Most mobbed the armoury, talking whatever weapons they could find before rushing to the amphitheatre a few metres away.

Grabbing our belongings, Percy shouted admist the loud noise volume."Come on!" He ran towards Annabeth and Piper who were shouting at him. Glancing at Cyrus and Geoff, I knew we had no choice but to meet our fate.

In a moment or two, every single camper had gathered at the amphitheatre, carrying their weapons with them. Chiron trotted to meet the group, also in his armour which covered the top part of his body. A Greek longsword was strapped to his waist and on his head, he wore a large solid helm. In another hand he held his bow and quiver of arrows. Beside him was a girl dressed in purple robes.

"Who's that?"I asked Percy as Leo, Piper and Annabeth joined us in front of the campers.

"That's Rachel Dare, the camp's oracle. She can read prophercies."

"As in predicting the future,"I answered, eyes widening.

"Something like that,"he replied. Then, I realised how tired I was after training with Cyrus._ How am I supposed to fight if I am so worn out,_ I thought worriedly. Percy seemed to read my thoughts for he reached into his pocket the godly food ambrosia. He distributed it among his friends and me. As I swallowed it, immediately my senses sharpened and my limbs felt more energised than before. Chiron then began to speak in a grim voice.

"Campers,Rachel here has foreseen a dark army approaching our camp secretly. For verification, our sentinels had also spotted a strange group approaching quickly at far. What we have feared and dreaded have finally arrived."He stopped as loud exclamations and murmurings came from the campers.A girl from the Ares cabin shouted."Are you serious! We'r going to do battle without preparations."

"Calm yourself,Clarisse. After many years of training and battling, I am confident that we can overcome these foes with or without preparations. Now that Dionysus has returned to Olympus, we have to depend on ourselves. For now, ready yourselves for the enemy will approach in about two hours; in the meantime, will the Hephaestus cabin complete whatever they have not done?"

"Yes sir!"shouted the cabinmates, including Leo. "I'll be back,"he said to us before rushing off with his team.

"Now everyone must head for the camp borders and get into positions. Know that we will support each other with our hearts, so do the Olympus!"Chiron roared as the campers roared back in unison.

Time flew and when Leo hurried back to us, I knew our imminent fate was approaching. By then everyone was in position by the walls of the camp, awaiting for their doom. "Ready yourselves,"Percy whispered as we waited at the northern flank of the wall, just where the entrance was. Chiron stood beside us, a hand on the hilt of his sword while the other carrying his bow.

There was a moment of uneasy silence and then we spotted the enemy far ahead. It was a gruesome lot as they neared the camp. Most of them were monsters carrying illuminated torches. I could see the hideous faces of Cyclopes, Lastrygonian giants, wild centaurs, gorgons and empousas. Strangely, they were different from what we expected:every single one of them was black and their eyes glowed red. The campers stirred with uneasiness as they beheld the army."That's-" I gasped.

"Aye,all Chaos warriors,"Cyrus whispered to me softly that none of the others heard him. I gulped, not knowing what to say. In between the army, human Chaos warriors followed, black swords in their hands. They all looked exactly like the one I fought:spiked gloves, dark cape, silver masks. However, their sizes looked different for some seemed younger than the others."That's seem so strange,"Chiron told us and for the first time, a look of worriness was on his expression.

As the army progressed, the soil in front of them suddenly exploded. We saw a gnarled hand reaching out as the person within pulled himself out. We gasped as we saw the man. He was dressed in brown overalls that was tattered and in his hands he carried a large warhammer and broadsword. He seemed muscular and his malignant eyes glowed golden.I was shocked as a sense of strange familarity came upon me as I saw the man. Beside us, Geoff made a frightened noise."Don't tell me that's-"my voice drained off.

"Who was that? I've never seen anyone like that. He looked like a god but I can think of no one,"Annabeth said and she and the rest, including Percy threw us curious glances. It was Cyrus who answered. "That's bad that he arrived. You are right , he _is_ a god. He's one of the ten Protogenoi Oureas,Helikon, a god of mountain."

"Indeed,"Chiron agreed, his face ghastly pale."He is a child of Gaia and one of her lieutenants. Now that he had appeared here, the war might not be as easy as it seems."

**There it goes for Chapter six. Quite an outcome though and this is a mighty long chapter. Hope you like it! Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7:A Battle Lost

**Chapter 7: A Battle Lost**

**This will be tragic tale, nevertheless the story has to go on.**

**Geoff's point of view:**

The war horn blown, once again, a low monotonous pitch admist the shoutings and yellings in the battle. It was a signal for the campers to rally at the camp's entrance. Together with a throng of weary yet determined campers, we marched towards the two marble fire pillars at the camp's entrance, at the same time throwing blows and defending ourselves from the Chaos warriors. Along the way, Percy climbed up a large outcrop of granite rock and raised his sword, Riptide, high enough for all to see. The stark blue sword, iridescent against the night sky, seemed to give off a pure blue glow.

"To me! For Olympus!" He shouted for all to hear. That, I assumed, was a form of encouragement to the campers. The words carried no hint of victory and I presumed it was just to spur the campers on. In fact, from what I can see, we were clearly the ones losing this battle. The campers were no match against the Chaos warriors; just as Cyrus had speculated, these evil forces were skilled in not only the dark arts of sorcery but their battle sense and tactics were just as good. Among the different races in the dark army, the human Chaos warriors were the hardest to defeat for they were most skilled in swordplay and magic. They moved swiftly and nimberly, able to dodge any potential attacks lashed out at them before retaliating.

Percy jumped from down from the rock and charged at the nearest enemies, with Annabeth, Leo and Piper close behind him. Arvin, Cyrus and me followed them when three huge Cyclops blocked our path. I attacked the nearest one and retreated when it swung his mace, roaring defiantly. Making use of his blind spot, I stabbed it in the gut with my sword before yanking the sword out again. The beast recoiled but continued to swing its weapon, showing no indication of pain. Grunting, I thrusted my sword through its large eye, forcing the blade through its skull and brain. It then dissolved into black ashes.

At the beginning of the battle, the campers were chagrined to find that despite numerous stabs, these warriors did not disintegrate. Cyrus then announced it was only possible to kill them by attacking their vital organs and Chiron had relayed the information. Despite knowing their weakness, the warriors were still hard to defeat and there were many casualties and even deaths. However, the campers still held on. I rushed towards Percy and the others after Arvin and Cyrus dispatched the other two Cyclops, who was now fending off a group of hellhounds. We were currently a few metres away from the walls of the borders of the camp and already part of the walls near the camp's entrance had been destroyed by the dark sorcery used by the Chaos warriors. By now, the enemy had been entering the camp via it when we reached the entrance. A horde of campers were fighting against the enemy and clearly, they were overthrown. We watched as the Chaos warriors slew some of them with ease and deadly grace and we rushed forward to help before any more deaths.

Overhead, flame boulders and long-range projectiles flew across the battlefield, aiming themselves at the god of mountains. However, Helikon just swapped them away with his massive warhammer. "Come on! You dare challenge the god of mountains," he roared at the campers, his voice booming forth like an avalanche. He slammed his broadsword on the ground, creating a temporal earthquake. I dropped to my knees as the whole landscape shook vigorously. There was a loud crash and the campers groaned with dismay as the camp's entrance collapsed due to the impact. Immediately, the Chaos warriors started rushing into the camp. The human Chaos warriors shouted a chant and the air near the camp's borders shimmered. Percy's eyes widened as he witnessed that before shouting,"Back to the camp! The magic borders were gone, we must defend it!" The campers responded immediately and followed their leader, along with Chiron galloping back.

As I entered the camp, I witnessed the Apollo campers at the remaining part of the walls, firing arrows at a rapid rate at the invaders. Some of them were tending to the wounded. The Chaos warriors received numerous bolts on their bodies but they ignored them. Some human Chaos warriors produced smoky crossbows and started firing back. I caught sight of Will Solace, counsellor of Apollo cabin instructing his fellow cabinmates. "Fire!" he shouted and the campers once again fired their bows at the warriors. A few of the campers received shots and collapsed to the ground and they were immediately tended to by their siblings. The Hephaestus campers repeatedly threw Greek fire at the enemy but to no avail. Although the Greek fires exploded and tossed the warriors in all directions, they simply got up and continued fighting.

A camper in front of me screamed and collapsed to the ground. It was a girl. The human Chaos warrior raised his sword but I rushed forward and parried it with my sword. Turning his attention to me, he slammed his sword into my shield, causing me to fall to the ground. Just before he could kill me, a red sword flashed across his neck and sent his head off his body, which disintegrated. Standing in his place was Cyrus with Cosmic and Power in both his hands. "Get up," he said before rushing to meet another Chaos warrior. I got up and examined the girl; she was motionless. I felt for her pulse and breathing but there were no signs that she was alive. Cursing and offering a silent prayer to her, I rushed to Percy and Leo who were girdled by a group of enemies.

"Leo, do it!" Percy shouted. Leo closed his eyes and then a circle of flames exploded around us, causing the warriors to back off. He then threw a series of fireballs at them before lighting up his sword and charged. "You don't want to mess with Firesword, do you?" he shouted at the enemies before bringing his sword at them.

"Whoa, that was cool,"remarked Arvin as he caught up with us, together with Piper and Annabeth. Everyone ignored him and concentrated on the battle ahead. Percy surveyed the chaos and frowned worriedly when he saw the campers being forced to retreat to the cabins. Another explosion rocked and we saw that the roof of the Great House had been blown to bits. That was when Helikon stepped foot into the camp, accompanied by more Chaos warriors._ We cannot afford to let him destroy the entire camp,_ I thought bitterly. As if reading my thoughts, Percy mentioned to us,"You guys head for the cabins and help the others defend them. Remember, if the cabins are destroyed, the camp is finished."

"What about you?" Annabeth asked and Percy threw a glance at the god who was now ripping the amphitheatre apart. "Percy, this is too dangerous. He is a primordial."

"I have no choice. The only way to end this battle is by bringing Helikon down." Annabeth continued pestering but eventually gave up. She then hugged Percy before mouthing the word 'careful'. Percy then dashed towards Helikon who was now heading for the lake, with Chiron and a few campers at his rear. We rushed to the cabins immediately; satyrs and harpies were already there defending the area with majority demigods. However, the Chaos warriors thrashed into our forces like it was a piece of cake, decapacitating so many of them that the corpses formed a heap. We hurriedly joined in the battle.

Cyrus soon joined us afterward, taking down as many warriors as he could with both his swords. I must say he was an elite fighter because the only person I had seen so far that can kill more than three Chaos warriors at a time was none other than him. I slashed at a dark warrior on his neck, drawing blood at the tip of my sword. He raised his sword defiantly, blood flowing non-stop from his neck. Before he could retaliate, I rammed my blade through his chest, finishing off him. That was when there was a scream faraway. Turning my attention in the direction of the lake, I was shocked to see Percy losing grip of his sword. He leapt away as Helikon gave him another blow. He was clutching his injured right hand now. Chiron rushed forward to protect his student but was met with a heavy blow of the warhammer at his torso before being tossed to one side.

At the same time, Percy picked Riptide up with his left hand and charged towards Helikon. He evaded a slash of Helikon's broadsword and attempted to stabbed the god but Helikon blocked the attack, and with a single twirl of his hand, sent Riptide flying off his hand. Before Percy could even regained his balance, I saw Helikon slashed him from shoulder to hip. Percy howled before crumpling to the ground; his howl was that of hopelessness and despair and it rang forth throughout the camp."Percy!" I heard Annabeth screamed his name before rushing towards him together with Leo and Piper. As if a curse had been set upon, the entire camp was starting to fall apart: the Chaos warriors seized the oppertunity to slew more campers while they were distracted and I watched helplessly as the Great House crumbled into a mountain of debris.

At the same time, I saw Helikon raised his warhammer for the final blow on Percy. Instictively, I channeled my powers to a column of thick black smoke emitting from a burning grasspatches. A tight tug filled my gut and I bent the smoke towards my will. Once it engulfed my hands like a black solid ball, I released my hold and sent it flying towards Helikon. The smoke morphed into an enlarged version of my palm and slammed into the god before he could even noticed, causing him to stumble a few steps back. Then I rushed to Percy as far as I could.

By the time I reached him, Annabeth was already there, holding Percy in her arms. He was in a bad shape and was nearly unconcious. "You are going to be alright," Annabeth repeatedly assured, though the anxious tone and the tears in her eyes hinted that the wound was serious. The grass beneath Percy was slowly turning crimson. At the corner of my eye, I saw Arvin firing huge balls of light at Helikon, which was apparently causing the god utmost diffculty. "Fools!" He roared at us before continuing," Traitors to your kind!" His words were like a kinfe through water and it hit me completely._ What does he mean?_

Arvin too, portrayed a look of uncertainty at what Helikon said. Before Helikon could attacked us, Cyrus suddenly ran up to him and raised his finger. The sky rumbled and streaks of red flashes appeared out of nowhere. Then tonnes of red, fiery boulder-sized meteorites came raining down on Helikon. "No!" Helikon shouted before he was buried under the piles of flaming rocks. The impact made a loud, jarring crash and burned the surrounding grass plains. I was sure that every camper was gaping with their mouths opened at Cyrus, but the moment ended when the pile of meteorites exploded and Helikon emerged, his face dark with fury. "You will pay for this!" he boomed before rushing to meet Cyrus. Standing in a fighter position with both his swords, Cyrus then followed his example.

A wail diverted my attention back to Percy."Why does nectar and water not heal his wounds?" Annabeth wailed as the demigods tried to tend to Percy's wound. Now, worry began to claw at my heart._ Percy has been a great friend to me. No, he cannot die. Not like this. _" Geoff! We must get out of here immediately! " Arvin shouted from afar as he dueled two Chaos warriors who was trying to come near us. Surveying the situation, I knew he was right. If we stayed here, we would be hunted down by the dark forces.

" Annabeth, we must get Percy to the infirmary and find other means to stop the bleeding," I told her. Annabeth looked at me hesitantly, then immediately nodded. With Leo and Piper support, they managed to support Percy on their back and escorted him to the infirmary. Arvin followed them, fending off any enemies that came close to them. In the mean time, the chaos proceeded and my eyes teared when I witnessed many campers were slain by the Chaos forces; they were always screaming before the warriors silenced them with smooth swides of their swords._ No. No way the camp is going to for apart_, I thought but could only grimaced when the Hypnos cabin erupted into flames. I watched Lou Ellen from the Hecate cabin slewn by a Chaos warrior who countered her magic with the dark arts and Morris rushed to take her place to defend the Hecate cabin, together with his other siblings.

A large explosion caused me focused on Cyrus again. Amazingly, Cyrus had handled the duel pretty well and had just evaded an explosive attack by Helikon's warhammer. He countered by throwing Cosmic at Helikon's face who deflected the sword to away. I saw Cosmic flew and embedded itself in the soft grass a few metres away, out of Cyrus's reach. Holding Power with both hands, Cyrus charged again but before he could attack Helikon, a sudden black wind apeared out of nowhere engulfed him. The wind lifted him up in the air and he was being swept away towards the south. Cyrus screamed but he was helpless and soon, he was out of sight.

"No!" I shouted but it was too late. I ran towards the direction in which the wind brought him. A Chaos warrior tried to stop me but I immersed myself in his conciousness and took control. Then I drained the essence out of him, leaving his fallen body behind. At that point in time, I was too anxious to marvel at my powers. Sometimes, such wierd things happened when I was feeling differently and I had not the slightest idea of how did I use my powers.

After running for about twenty minutes, I came to a rocky region of a pebbled beach. I was panting heavily before I searched around. The waves crashed against the shore endlessly, creating white foams. There was no sign of Cyrus, but I saw something strange and shocking. Ahead of me three metres stood three Chaos warriors who seemed to be discussing among themselves. As soon as they saw me, two of them weaved their black swords out of thin air and prepared to charge but the third did not followed their actions. Unlike the two warriors which was dressed in black and silver masks, the third was dressed differently. He too, wore black leather and spiked gloves but there a symbol imprinted on his leather at his chest: the symbol of a golden eye which stares at me maliciously. Behind him, his red cape billowed in the sea breeze and on his face, his mask was golden. He carried no weapons, unlike his companions.

Settling into my fighting stance, I held up my Celestial bronze sword and charged without hesitation. I was determined to kill all the Chaos warriors once and for all, to repay for the lives of my fellow campers and for the annihilation of the camp. But what I did was a wrong move for the golden-masked figure simply raised his palm and the ground and rocks in front of me exploded.

_Boom!_

Heat seared my face and I felt the the most painful sensation on my face as pieces of broken stones tore open the skin on my face. Bigger pieces of rocks slammed into my body, tossing me a few metres back. The last thing I remembered was being pinned under a large rock and there was a disgusting sound of bone breaking at my right side, followed by a horrible pain that I had never experienced before. Then, darkness clouded my sight...

**There goes the tale; I felt bad making Percy seriously wounded but the question is will he survived? Why do nectar or water not heal his injuries? Will Camp Half-Blood survived? Is Geoff dead? Well, you will know later. Stay tune!**


	8. Chapter 8 : The Aftermath

**Chapter 8: The Aftermath**

**Let the story continue!**

**Arvin's point of view:**

I stared intently as Leo placed a palm over the head of a wax candle. A few seconds passed... and a spark ignited over the candle before a small flame lit it up. Withdrawing his hand, Leo sighed as he leaned back on a battered couch, his expression serene as he studied the dancing luminance. Despite the night chill, the warmth of the candle glow seeped into my body, warming my fingers and toes. The entire room was in darkness, except for the tiny glow.

I sat opposite Leo, with Radiance across my lap as I tried to focus on the flame. Using the power within me, I increased the intensity of the glow; the orange flame glowed brighter and brighter till the entire room was lit. Leo whistled as he witnessed what I was doing. "Now that was the most awesome thing I've ever saw," he remarked. Giving him a slight smile, I maintained the glow before moving Radiance to a more comfortable position.

"It's nothing," I huffed.

"Man. That is what I will call wierd powers. No demigods can ever do such stuff. Speaking of which, I wondered who your godly parent is," Leo replied as he shealthed his sword.

"I-," I faltered as I heard his last sentence._ Who am I?_ The cold thought passed through me like an ice cold blade. That was the question to which Geoff and I was searching for. Even now, I could help but wonder what Helikon had meant when he said those words. The god of mountains had called Cyrus, Geoff and me traitors to his kind. Thinking of this, I wondered who my godly parent was. As far as I knew, no gods had ever claimed me yet although Percy had mentioned that the process would happened the moment a demigod turned thirteen. Nevertheless, I was determined to find our roots.

I turned my head towards Percy who was lying on a mattress not far from us, his face ghastly pale. He was tucked in a blanket and a moist cloth was draped over his forehead. His sword,Riptide was placed beside him. As I saw the beads of perspiration on his face, I knew that he was still in a critical state despite the numerous aid provided. The moment Percy got struck by Helikon's blow, we had immediately rushed him to the infirmary. Alas, most of the building had collapsed and Chiron had us brought him to one of the storage rooms which were still intact. Different means of healing was done to him but to no avail as the bleeding could not be stopped. Eventually, when there were no options left, magic was our last course of action. However, the spell was difficult and tedious and it required the combined actions of both Hecate and Apollo campers. Finally, the bleeding ceased but the spell could not prevent the wound from becoming infectious or Percy himself developing a fever. It would required a significant amount of time before his injury would completely heal._ It's just as Cyrus had_ speculated, I thought,_ the Chaos army did seemed to possess a sinister power._

I turned my gaze to Annabeth, who was sleeping beside Percy._ She had overworked herself._ I thought about how desperate she had been while the healers attended to Percy. Turning my attention back to Leo, I asked," Do you think Percy will be alright?"

"I hoped so. The healers had done everything they could. The rest is up to fate." Silence then fell between us. The battle had ended not long ago with the camp losing more than thirty campers. No one could comprehend why the Chaos army had withdrawn when they were on the verge of winning. I shivered as I remembered how Helikon's voice boomed across the whole camp when he made his leave. _Beware, demigods, this is only the beginning. I will be back next time with a larger army to crush this camp. The gods will not be able to protect you at that time. The Primordials will rule once again! _Now, Camp Half-Blood was engaged in post war reconstruction and there were many injured victims to be attended to. Currently, both Leo and I were asked to keep an eye on Percy. Worriness clawed at my heart as I pondered on the current situation.

Similarly, Leo had a moody expression on his face and I presumed he was thinking the same thing. Minutes passed and suddenly, Leo jerked up and looked around anxiously. "You feel anything?" he questioned.

"Feel what?" I looked around, attempting to spot anything that caught my sight but there was nothing to see. "What are-" I started to say but stopped when I felt it. It was another presence that was in the same room as us. Cautiously, I laid a hand on the hilt of my sword and Leo started to reach for his sword. All of a sudden, a man appeared in the room. It was so unexpectant that Leo almost fell out of the couch. The man had a tall stature and was broad-shouldered. His luminiscent green eyes bore into us with such intensity that I tightened my grip on Radiance. He was sun-tanned and had a black beard and he wore a blue robe that left his shouders bare. Most prominent was the waft of sea breeze that emanated from him. Instantly, I knew who I was looking at.

"Lord Poseidon," Leo and I greeted in unison as we sank to our knees. The sea god made a gesture for us to rise before saying," I have come to give the camp a warning. But first, I must see to my son."

"Please, only you can help to heal his wounds," Leo pleaded as we stepped aside. Poseidon walked towards Percy before crouching next to him. He stayed in that stance for a couple of minutes, as if pondering over something. Then, he held a hand close to Percy's chest. A nimbus green glow radiated from his hand. Immediately, Percy's face seemed to relaxed a little.

"Did you heal him?" Leo asked expectantly.

" Alas, I can only nullify the the toll of his injury-"

" What! You would not even heal your son!" Leo interrupted instantly. He was about to prattle on if I had not shot him a warning look. However, Poseidon did not seem insulted. He sighed and continued on. "However, I have given Percy a new gift for I feel it is neccessary in such dire situation. But this is for him to find out himself. As for his injury, the dark magic within can only be countered with the power of the ancients." Both of us stared at the god as if he had slipped into another language.

" The world is in a very precarious situation. Even we gods are facing troubles now. The master of universe Chaos is awaking and it seems the universe will soon bring the world down. To prevent such happenings, quests must soon be organised for the items mentioned in the Prophecy. Only with these items will there be hope of saving the world. If not, the world will surely fall."

After hearing what Poseidon had mentioned, we stared at him dumbfounded._ Sap was right. It was Chaos._" Who will go on these quests?" Leo asked hesitantly. Under the candle glow, he seemed to be trembling.

" That is not the question for me to answer. Only heed this, fate will bring the demigods destined to go on these quests together. They will be an unique group with specialities. Most importantly, the first quest must be undertaken a week from now; any further delay will cause us to lose a chance."

" What about our camp?" I blurted out.

Poseidon looked at me sternly before continuing," Currently, both Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter had suffered a trmendous loss. Similarly, Camp Jupiter is in the midst of recuperating. It seems that both camps must work together once again to counter the uprising of the Primordials."

" You mean, while we were being invaded, Camp Jupiter was also facing the same situation? " Leo asked disbelievingly. Poseidon the meantime, I wondered what Camp Jupiter was like._ It could a camp similar to Camp Half-Blood._

" The Primordials are clever. They decided to bring the two camps down so that demigods will not work with gods once again to overthrow themselves. However, both camps are protected by a viel of magic that prevent the camp from being fully destroyed; even if either camps were reduced to almost nothingness, there will still be a part in which the invaders cannot attack. However, the magic will be nullified if we gods were to lose control of Olympus."

Leo and me shuffled our feet unsteadily as we drank in his words. "However, do not presume all Primordials are turning against us. There are still a few whom have sided with us though I am still unsure of which. We may need guidance from them if we were to go against Chaos," Poseidon resumed speaking.

Outside, the sky rumbled admidst the on-going repair works. Poseidon looked outside of one of the windows. He raised his right hand and his trident appeared in his palm, tipped with a bluish glow. "It seems I am needed back at Olympus. Before I depart, know that the first quest will take you all the way to the Middle-East and some of the Asian continents. I suggest you should seek your Oracle for the first prophercy."

He then glanced at me. " I know you have many questions to ask, Arvin, but you must be patient for you and your brother will eventually find the answers to all your doubts. It seems fate has shone on Geoff and you since the both of you will play a crucial role in these circumstances. And you as well, Leo. In the meantime, Percy will be fine. He will awake finding himself a new start and a new role. Farewell, demigods. Do not fail the gods."

Before we could ask anything, the god tranformed into a column of water that dissipated in the air. We stood rooted for a few seconds, trying to comprehend Poseidon's words. Frankly speaking, his words left me a little muddle-headed. And was the god keeping something from Geoff and me?

Finally I asked Leo," Poseidon mentioned about a Great Prophercy. Do you know it?" Leo regained his composure before drawing a deep breath. He then pulled out a motor from his belt before fiddling it with it. Aparrently, Leo looked reluctant to even recite the prophercy.

"_The fate of the world rests on eight half-bloods blessed by the ancients. Together, they made the constituents of the universe. Together must they find the Scroll of Time and Orb of Dimension. For these could contain the universe. Only when fire and ice clash to renew the Scroll and Orb. Can the cosmo's rage be appeased."_

After Leo recited it, the room seemed to lapsed into an eerie silence. Most disturbing were the two items that Poseidon wanted us to retrieve._ Scroll of Time and Orb of Dimension?_ "What do you know of the two items? " I asked Leo.

" I'm not sure. I've never heard of such items. Even Chiron has no idea about it. It was just two months ago when our Oracle, Rachel had recited this. The whole camp had been facing problems ever since, though no one know who are the eight half-bloods or the ancients mentioned in that prophercy."

" Poseidon says these demigods have specialities, though I know nothing of it. And I don't even understand what the prophercy says about them being the constituents of the universe," Leo continued.

I pondered about it further. Some how, the two items struck a note in my mind. They seemed kind of familiar though I had no idea where I had heard of them before. " Now, we should heed the god's advice and organise a quest for the first item now," I replied. Leo nodded and then the door opened and Piper came in.

She was still dressed in her armour and had bandages on her arms. Her bronze sword was hung by her side. Giving Leo a curt nod, she turned towards me. "Arvin, I think you need to know this," she told me glumly. After a moment of hesitation, she continued. "Cyrus was kidnapped by a mystrious black wind and your brother was...um...seriously injured."

_Gods, what is going on?_ I stared at her as if she had brought my death note. "Where has this wind gone and where was Geoff injured?" I asked , panic rising in my voice.

"This wind carried Cyrus off north and as for Geoff, I think you should see for yourself," Piper replied. Without hesitation, we followed out of the room and into the open air. The night air was filled with the smell of burns and blood. At the same time, a group of campers brought with them a strecther towards and on it laid Geoff.

As I beheld him, it took a few campers to held me back from a fit panic and distraught. _No! Geoff! You must'n die._ Despite these campers, I managed to tore myself of their grasp and ran to Geoff. he was still breathing but it came out as slow, weak ones. Most unbearable was the bloody mess on his right side and a motley gash on his left face. I was feeling so desperate that I was oblivious of the comfort the other campers gave me. It only ended when Chiron had spoken soothingly to me, though warm tears still ran down my face. _Geoff was the only one whom I can look up to. If he is gone, what am I to do?_

While the healers tended to Geoff, I stayed outside the room with Leo, Piper and Chiron by my side. Till then, their comforting voices still sounded distant. Then a voice shouted," Chiron, you need to see this!"

Two campers supporting a boy hobbled towards us. As they approached, I saw the boy had dishevelled mat black hair. He was unconcious for his body was limp. His forehead was caked with blood and mud and his black shirt and jeans were tattered and smoking and in his right hand, he held a black sword. There was a skull ring on one of his fingers.

Seeing this, Chiron immediately sent for the healers. As the campers led the boy away, Leo gasped behind me. " Gods, that was Nico di Angelo"

**That's all for this chapter. Story will continue in next chapter. Hope you like it.**


	9. Chapter 9: Prince Of Darkness

**Chapter 9: Prince Of Darkness**

**Geoff's point of view**

_Where am I? _I thought to myself as I surveyed my surroundings. Everywhere was darkness; it was like I was enclosed in a dark void. My whole body felt like it was as light as feather. I raised my left hand but it was so dark that I could not even see my fingers. I tried to move my body, my legs as well as my head but they were so stiff that I could barely moved them, as if there were invisible bonds immobilising my limbs. My right side had a burning sensation but I was too exhausted to even bother about it.

"You are awake," a voice suddenly boomed forth from the depths of darkness. Its tone was icy cold and whoever spoke the words sent shivers down my spine. I tried to look around to see who was speaking but the darkness clouded my vision, and as much as I strained to see, there was no one around. A single thought ran across my mind. _Am I dead?_

"Fear not, you are very much alive," came the voice again. I gasped in surprise when I found the speaker could read my thoughts. This time, its tone was stealthy and smooth as silk. " Its just that you are in a death trance."

"Death trance?" I asked whoever was speaking to me. The words left me a little muddle-headed.

"Yes. Its a darkness ability where all children of Hades or Pluto can wield. Death trance allows you to go in a state very much like hibernation; it slows down your breathing and heartbeat and bloodflow. You will not be aware of the reality but your soul clings very tightly to your being," the voice continued. _Great,_I thought sullenly.

"You lost too much blood in your previous encounter, so it is only appropriate that you should be in this state to rejuvenate yourself. You should be lucky that you are not dead, though you have paid a terrible price for your foolish deed."

A spark of anger flashed in my mind for that insult. However, after my encounter with the warrior with the golden mask, it did seem a foolish act to go against such a formidable foe. "Who are you? Hades or Pluto? And where am I?" I challenged.

" I am neither Hades nor Pluto. You should know who am I for the answer lies within your heart," the voice replied. I frowned to myself at that reply. That was not what I was expecting. After all my effort for asking, all I got was this. The voice was silent for a while and I figured out it was allowing me some time to ponder. I stared at the darkness surrounding me, pondering who was speaking to me. The voice seemed familiar, as if I had known the person since I was a child. It was the voice that spurred me into action whenever I was facing dangers. Then I realised it was the voice of the man who had spoken to me in my dreams. Suddenly, a name formed in my mind, based on my memories.

"Erebus?" I asked hesitantly, wondering where the name came from. There was no reply but I could sensed approval from the god. Then, his face appeared before me, like a gigantic shadow. His facial features was still engulfed in darkness but it took a moment to realise he was wearing a mask woven of shadows. Most unmistakable were his blood-red eyes which were just slits on the mask.

"As for where you are, look below you." Despite the pain in my right side, I struggled to look below. I was floating admist the pool of darkness! Below me was a yawning black pit.

"What you are looking at will be the entrance to Hades's Underworld. As a matter of fact, you are in Erebos, my domain." His words struck me like an arrow. "And for what reason do you bring me here" I retorted.

" Listen, Geoff, I do not have much time. The world is plunging into chaos with the uprisal of the primordials. You must play a part in the role in defending it." I stared at his face in disbelief. Aren't the gods supposed to be the ones taking care of this world? Why were they relying on us?

"Aren't you a primordial? Why will you side with us" I asked angrily. There was a moment of silence.

"You don't understand. Chaos wanted to end this world as it was not to his expectations. He felt the world could be ruled by better beings and not solely dominated by humans. In fact, he felt that the humans are doing a poor job handling this world, as well as the Olympians. Unfortunately, most of the primordials agree to that. I was one of those who disagreed. Though the humans need vast improvemrnt in handling the world, we feel that can be changed. In fact, building a new world is tedious affair, even for us gods."

I took a few minutes to digest his words. Maybe Erebus was not unreasonable as I thought all gods would be. He was, in some sense, giving the humans a chance to prove their worth. Besides, being someone related to a god, it was also my responsibility to protect this world. Suddenly, the dark abyss seemed to get brighter. Now, I could manage to see my fingers, even in the dark.

Sensing my surprise, Erebus explained," That is one sign of your darkness powers manifesting within you... Oh, yes, although darkness, shadows and mist are my spheres of control, one can still not have full control over these domains, not even me. Every being has a demon within him or her, either dormant or active. Being related to me, the demon within you is likely to be active. Within three months, you must travel alone to the darkest place of your life to find a sacred item that will help control the demon inside you, or else, the monster will consume your being. Remember, three months."

" And where is this darkest place?" I asked, fear creeping up my heart.

"You will find out in time to come, the place where your sorrows are the deepest. In the meantime, try to fight against it. Although your powers are increasing, very soon it will not be you using them, but the demon. If this happens, the world will surely fall. The fate of the world rest in your hands, so find the item quick." With that, my vision started to blur.

" Wait! Are Arvin and me really demigods? Am I really your son?" My vision cleared again, but Erebus seemed to be hesitating.

Finally, he managed," I...am not your father. Your mortal parents died long ago. I am... you."

" Huh? What-" I croaked but everything went dark.

* * *

><p>As my eyes squinted under the light while I struggled to open them, I saw Arvin's face floating beside me. "Geoff! You'r awake," he cried out in relief and gave me a bear hug after helping me to sit up on the mattress.<p>

My throbbing head felt as if a hammer had fallen on it. As my eyes adjusted to the morning light, I looked around the dusty room. " Where am I?"

"The infirmary. You suffered heavy injuries during the war. Fortunately, only part of the infirmary had been damaged. Nevertheless, I am glad you are alive."

Suddenly, a searing pain laced up my right side and I cried out. "Why is my right side so painful?"

Arvin hesitated when I asked that. Instead, his silence forced me to look at my right side. Tears instantly flowed out of my eyes the moment I laid my eyes on the terrible wound. My right arm was no more. In place of it was a stump bandaged heavily in linen that ended at my shoulder. Botches of blood stained the bandages. _My right arm..._

"I'm sorry, Geoff. The healers tried all means to save your arm but the damage was too much. However, they had casted spells to prevent infection and bleeding." My brother looked apologetic as he said that.

_You have paid a terrible price for your foolish deed,_ the voice of Erebus reveberated in my mind. I clenched my left fist till the fingers turned white. Then, I noticed another person lying on another mattress beside me. It was a boy in dark clothes. His hair was dishevelled and his face was deathly pale." Who's he?" I croaked.

"Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. He is a friend of Cyrus," Arvin replied.

"Where's Cyrus?" I blurted.

Arvin looked down and dismay gripped me. "And Percy?" I asked again.

"Still unconcious." Arvin continued looking down and I felt he was not telling me something. Then, there were the sounds of footsteps outside and the door opened." How's Geoff?" Leo asked as he strolled in.

" He's awake," Arvin replied but Leo only frowned. "Where's Geoff?" he asked while staring _at me._

"Huh? You can't see him?"Arvin asked uncomprehendingly. At that moment, I waved to get Leo's attention. It took a moment for him to _see me._ "Sorry,"he grinned," a little drowsy today."

Although Leo had taken it to be misintepretation, I knew what had just happened had really happened. It was one of my powers; if I stayed really still, I could become the blind spot of someone's eyes. _Your powers are manifesting within you,_I gulped when I realised that.

"Arvin, Chiron called you for the meeting. A quest is about to begin and he wants you present," Leo spoke.

_Remember, three months._ As Arvin started to get up, I gripped one of his arms. " I'm coming with you."

Before he could protest, I shot him a resilient look that provoked no arguments. Then, I gritted my teeth in pain as both of them helped me out of the room._ I will find you, Cyrus._

* * *

><p><strong>Third person's point of view<strong>

A few kilometres west of Amesbury, in United Kingdom, laid the stonehenge site. A lone man walked among the huge crowds of tourists who were coming here for sightseeing. He wore a golden mask and black clothes, complete with a red cape. Most duanting was the golden eye symbol imprinted on his front. Despite the strange looks the people gave him, he ignored them.

Walking with a strange gracefulness, he approached the registration counter and removed his mask, revealing a pale face with icy, blue eyes. "I wished to redeem a package that was left for me here," he told the lady behind the counter in a calm voice.

" Please wait for a while, sir, while I confirm," she replied.

A minute later, the lady returned with a wrapped package in her arms. "Please sign here," she said while handing him a note pad.

" Are you here for sightseeing at the stonehenge?" she inquired cheerily as the man wrote down his name.

" I am here to experience the beginning of a new world," the man smiled as he put the pen down. Looking at the lady's expression changed from surprise to a frown, he continued.

" Did you know? It's been said that the stone henge was related to the birth of this world. In a world that had just begun, it's a world where strife does not exist. This is what I called the 'perfect' world. While the world is in our stewardship, this is something we must not forget."

Upon hearing this, the lady quickly left the package with him and stode off quickly. The man sighed._ Be that as it may, the hearts of humans are frail and weak. It will be impossible to once again achieve the state of a 'perfect' world._

The man stared down at the name he had written: Cyan. Then he smiled again, this time menacingly. _My lord is right, humans are unsuitable to rule this world._

Then he strode off in the direction of the stonehenge, his cape fluttering in the wind.


	10. Chapter 10: Prophercy Of The First Quest

**Chapter 10:Prophercy Of The First Quest**

**Arvin's point of view**

I grimaced when I saw the bodies all lined up beside a great fire. The bodies were all wrapped up in white cloth in an attempt to delay rotting, but already some were showing signs of decomposing. Wrapped within the cloth, I know laid the corpses of the brave demigods who had died in the recent battle. My eyes teared when I saw there were so many of them._ They all have made great sacrifices._

In total, I could tell that there were almost hundred or so demigods who had gave their lives; and this had greatly reduced the camp numbers by half. By the time Leo and I had led Geoff to the counsellors' meeting place, almost half the corpses had been cremated. Each body had a shroud upon them which will be burned together with the body as a sign of respect from the cabinmates._ They will all go to Esylium._

As I led Geoff to where Chiron was, I saw many of the campers casting looks of disgust at Geoff's wound. Though many of them had bandages around their arms and heads, neither of their injuries could be compared to that of Geoff's. Despite their wary glances, Geoff did not seem to be affected. Instead, he seemed to be contemplating about something.

Finally when we reached Chiron, we saw that all the counsellors were already present and seated around a battered table. They were still wearing their battle armours. The centaur himself was witnessing the cremation of a Hephaestus camper. Surprisingly, his shroud, which was a huge ton of metallic chains burned up easily when placed among the roaring flames.

"Geoff, it seems you are well but it is not right for you to be walking around in the midst of your recovery," Chiron spoke grimly when he saw us approaching.

"I cannot be lying in bed all day when there is chaos brewing," Geoff muttered.

Chiron gazed at him for a moment but said nothing. Then he beckoned us to the table. After helping Geoff to a chair, Leo and I then sat down to the left and right of him. "Can we start?" Clarisse, counsellor of the Ares cabin grumbled impatiently.

" Yes, but we will have to wait for Rachel," Chiron replied.

Rachel arrived soon after he had said that, dressed in a flowing purple robes but walked barefooted. As the camp's Oracle, the campers always seemed to respect her when she was present, even Clarisse. After she had taken her place at the head of the table, Chiron cleared his throat.

" First things first, how is the camp's situation?" he asked Leo.

" The damage is quite bad. Not only the amphitheatre is destroyed, so is the Great House and almost half of the cabins as well as part of the camp borders. Approximately, we will need about two months to reconstruct everything so in the meantime, we must stay in the infirmary. As for weaponry, it will take two weeks to replenished what we have lost."

" Any news from the Roman camp?"

" I fear not. We haven't been able to contact them since the battle." Upon hearing that, Chiron furrowed his brows. "Don't worry, I 'm sure Jason can take care of the camp," Piper said.

Chiron nodded before asking Annabeth, who was sitting next to him. " How is Percy?" As soon as he asked that, all eyes turned to look at her with concern, though Clarisse gave a snort. Even though Annabeth had slept, her eyes looked as if she hadn't been sleeping lately and her face was really pale. She remained silent at his question and looked down instead.

Not wanting to ask her further, Chiron changed the topic. " Now, about the upcoming quest. According to the Great Prophercy and what Lord Poseidon says, Chaos will try all means to bring down this world and we all have a duty to stop him by finding the two divine objects. We must not let our losses gain the better of us. Now I believe that it is time for us to reveal the prophercy of the first quest."

Just as he mentioned that, Rachel slumped forward. Seeing this, two of the counsellors seating by her side rushed to help her up. When they held her up, I could only see that her eyes had glowed a luminous green. Green smoke left her mouth as the Oracle of Delphi within her spoke the new prophercy.

"Eight stones of the destined demigods to be found..." it hissed.

"Four each to the orb and scroll... the heated lands wherein the scroll lies back time..."

"The shadows must travel in solitude..." Upon hearing that, Geoff's face paled. The voice then continued." Perish will be the final bow of flames..."

"Saved must be the red warrior with the help of quartz... the wisdom to be found in the heart of Rome..." The counsellors around the table held their breath as they heard the final verse of the prophercy.

"And the last lies within the bottom land of ice..." With that, the voice of the Oracle faded and the cloud of green smoke vanished into Rachel's mouth. Her eyes opened as she gazed at the faces of everyone gathered around the table. Beads of sweat covered her forehead and face." Well what did the Prophercy say?" she asked.

There was a deadly silence around the table as one of the counsellor repeated the prophercyto her. As far as I can tell, the prophercy spelled a harbinger of doom for the camp. " Aside from the Great Prophercy, that is the wierdest prophercy I've heard so far," Travis, counsellor of Hermes cabin broke the ice.

Nodding, Chiron replied," It does not matter what the prophercy says; most importantly is that we need to complete the quest as soon as possible. The gods of Olympus have been facing trouble two months ago, so it is unlikely that they will be providing any aid for us. We must be depending on ourselves. From what I see, it must be completed within four months before worst destructions come upon the world."

" But who will be going on this quest?" Morris, the new counsellor of Hecate cabin leaned forward and asked. The talismans hanging on his clothes clanged and jangled.

"Both prophercies had mentioned that eight demigods will be playing a role in this quest and quests to come. The Roman camp will definitely send a few demigods, so a few of us must go on this quest while the rest stay behind to defend the camp. Given now the camp's situation is dire and Dionysus is not present, we must risk much," Chiron replied.

"Arvin and I will go," Geoff immediately blurted. Hearing this, I had wanted to smack his head for his 'marvellous' idea. Although he may be the eldest, I had always been the one refraining him from doing anything foolish. Now, Chiron had taken on my role. "You and Arvin are new here and inexperienced; besides, you are still recovering from your injuries."

"We had been facing monsters ever since we were born. I have a feeling that both of us are needed in this quest. Anyway, I cannot leave Cyrus all by himself; I must find him." The other counsellors started discussing among themselves, with many, including Clarisse, protesting about his decision. I was hoping that Chiron would refused but all the centaur did was to ponder a long time before giving a curt nod. "Both Arvin and Geoff have been displaying inexplicable abilities ever since we had met them and I too have a feeling they are part of this quest," he reasoned.

_Great_, I thought sullenly. I cast Geoff a look of anoyance but he refused to meet my eyes. Annabeth finally spoke, in a soft voice," I will go too, the prophercy mentioned 'wisdom' and I think it is referring to one of Athena's children."

"Me too." Everyone turned to look at Will Solace, counsellor of the Apollo's cabin. "The Chaos warriors slew all my cabinmates, do you expect me to forget that?" His words struck everyone of us like arrows. Though Will can be an amiable sometimes, most campers knew not to displease him, for he was the best archer in camp. From his words, I felt a pang of sympathy for him.

"All right, we have talked much today. The quest will begin on the morrow. For now, all of us must rest," Chiron said before galloping off.

* * *

><p>I was leading Geoff back to the infirmary when he suddenly halted. "You don't have to lead me anymore, I'm able to walk on my own," he told me. Loosening my grip on his arm, he struggled to stand by himself. Even wearing the orange camp shirt, the blood from his wound still managed to stain his right sleeve. He gritted his teeth as he steadied himself.<p>

I fixed him with a glare. "How many times I've told you not to rush into making decisions," I said to my big brother, referring to the reckless choice he made just now.

"What about you? You did not tell me all the things that transpired when I was unconcious," Geoff retorted. I frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"Not only you did not tell me about the Great Prophercy and about Poseidon's visit, you kept your dream last night to yourself. Do you know how important is it to the camp and our upcoming quest?" I froze when he told me that._ How did he know?_ Then I realised he had been reading my memories. Silently, I cursed myself for not knowing that.

Geoff held my gaze for a while, then he straightened up. "We should not dwell on the past. Anyway, you should not keep that dream to yourself. Even though, I'm sorry for making that reckless decision; it's just that I feel that there is a need for us to go, in order to find out our past and save Cyrus."

A breeze blew across our faces and made the grasses rustled. "I understand," was all that I could reply.

"I need to take a breather. See you later at the infirmary," Geoff continued before heading in the direction of the lake, his empty right sleeve fluttering.

Sighing, I continued my way to the infirmary. Geoff had changed ever since I last talked to him. He was more cold and direct now; maybe he was still frazed about his wound or angry with me for not telling about my dream. The dream did seem crucial to the quest. In fact, one of the primordial, Pontus had visited me in my dreams last night.

The ancient sea god looked so old with a white beard. He had a trident upon his forehead, like a tattoo burned on skin. His right arm had even more 'tattoos' of intersecting lines, which started from his shoulders and ended at his wrist. His dark green eyes looked at me with such intensity as he studied me.

"Arvin, fear not for I am not here to interrupt your dreams, neither am I one of the primordials which oppose the Olympians. The fate of this world rests on you demigods, depending on whether you will cooperate with us primordial gods on your side and the Olympians."

"And how do we do that?" I asked.

"For those eight who are part of the quest and chosen by fate itself, they must depend on the gods within them, including you."

"What?" I asked again uncomprehendingly. The god smiled sadly.

"You will know in time to come, about the one within you. All you have to do is to put your faith in him." The god then looked behind him, as if he was expecting something. "My time has come to be within the fated one."

The dream faded before I had the chance to ask the god further questions. Its just seem so ridiculous. Primordial gods just kept appearing. And the most uncomprehending part is what Geoff said about my dream being important for for the quest. What on earth was on his mind? Sighing again, I stepped behind a door of a room of the infirmary and knocked. There was no response.

"Percy?" I called. Still there was no reply. Perhaps he was still unconcious. Carefully I opened the door of the room and gasped when I saw that the mattress was empty.

"Sorry. I didn't hear you knock," a voice called from the far side of the room.

"Percy?" I asked the person again," is that you?"

"I look different, aren't I?" Percy grinned. I must agree that Percy definitely looked different. His eyes looked a darker green than before and his hair... his hair was white instead of his usual black. There was a trident upon his forehead. As he was bandaged on his chest and abdomen, only both his arms were left bare and aside from a tattoo of a trident with the letters SPQR and a bar on his right arm, there were tattoos of intersecting lines on his right arm.

_Pontus,_I thought to myself. _My time has come to be with the fated one. _Now I knew what the god meant when he said I smiled," Welcome back, Percy. You are just in time for the quest."

* * *

><p><strong>Third Person Point of view<strong>

Cyrus grunted in pain as he crashed into a rocky wall. He knew from the moment when he met this titan, all his efforts from trying to escape from this cursed place had gone up into smoke. He clutched his only sword, Power tightly as he struggled to stand up. This opponent was too formidable. Where was he, he did not know; but his main focus was to finish off the enemy. If he could do this easily, like what he did earlier to the Chaos warriors that had been guarding his prison door, he might be able to escape. However, aside from swordplay, the main problem was that this foe was able to anticipate his powers. Worse thing, the opponent could even use some of his powers.

"Fool! If you think you can defeat me with the powers of the universe, you are mistaken. I had a share of Chaos powers and none of your petty tricks can work," the opponent smirked, waving his crescent-shaped sabre.

"Snap out of it, Astraeus. Either you or me will be going down," Cyrus muttered as he held the red sword up. His gut tightened as he summoned the earth beneath him. The ground shook as an earthen hand made of soil reached out to grab the titan.

"Too slow," Astraeus mouthed these words before vanishing and appearing before Cyrus's back.

"You are slower," Cyrus grinned and smashed the hilt of his sword into the titan's face, sending him stumbling back. He slashed again, this time at Astraeus's shoulder. A red streak slashed across the titan and he vanished into a shower of sparks. Cyrus stopped to take a breather._ Did I win?_

"You lose," Astraeus's voice boomed forth in the rocky cavern. Suddenly, the titan's sabre whirled in front of him. There was a sharp clang as Power met with the sabre, but Cyrus only found himself being tossed back by the impact and smashing into the walls again. Pain laced up his back and his vision turned red and white. He tried to get up but his entire body was numb.

"You are inside Chao's domain and this is where his powers are the greatest, so are his minions. Your chance of victory over me is zero. The domination of Earth will take place a fortnight later and there is nothing you can do to save your friends or the world,_ child_ of cosmos. Now, cower before the great Astraeus." With that, the titan raised his glowing sabre and slashed it swiftly across the roof of the cavern. The ceiling caved in immediately and the rocks made a jarring crash as they tumbled onto Cyrus.

**For your information, Astraeus is the primordial titan of planets and stars. Just make a search in wikipedia.**


	11. Chapter 11: PerseusJackson,All Time Hero

Chapter** 11: Perseus Jackson, All Time Hero**

**The quest has started, but what will their fate be?**

**Geoff's point of view**

Gusts of wind blew across my face as our speedboat churned across the blue waters of the Mediterranean at nearly thirty kilometres per hour, like an arrow through the waters. Except that this was not really a speedboat since it was not its engine which was propelling it forward, but Percy using his powers to manipulate the waves around the boat. Chiron had mentioned that the dark forces of Chaos could be anywhere, so it would be safer for us to travel by boat without its engine spluttering and making loud noises that might give us away.

I tore my eyes away from the horizon and looked at Percy, who was standing at the prow of the boat with both his arms folded and his gaze fixed at a distance ahead of us. The sea breeze tousled his white hair and his eyes looked greener than ever. Wearing just his orange camp tee-shirt and blue jeans, his stature made him looked completely different since I last saw him. His white hair made him looked even more mature and the dark intersecting lines running across his right arm made him more fearsome, somewhat resembling an ancient warrior.

In fact, his speedy recovery had really amazed everyone at camp, including Chiron. The wound on his back had completely healed, not even a scar was seen on his flawless skin. It took a few minutes for Arvin to explain what had happened and about his dream regarding the ancient primordial, Pontus. Finally that brother of mine had seen some sense to bring up that dream, which was in truth crucial to our quest. Now, we knew how many of the primordials were on our side. However, the main question is that why would Pontus wanted to be part of Percy? Was Erebus's relevation about him being part of me also got to do with this fact? What about Arvin then? Was he releted to another primordial?

I pushed that thought away as soon as it became confusing. Currently, there were six of us on this boat: Me, Arvin, Percy, Annabeth, Will and Leo. At the last minute, Leo had offered to come with us, which got Chiron on his nerves since it was too large a group. However, after much pestering, he decided to let it go. In the meantime, we were heading towards ancient Rome, since it was the closest place where the first item leading to the Scroll of Time was.

It was a few hours later that Percy slowed down the waves to have a rest. "This is the fastest speed which I have ever driven a boat," he remarked as he joined us. The boat floated admist the ocean, with the rays of sunlight casting down on us. Except for the calls of seagulls, everywhere was quiet and peaceful.

"How far are we from Rome?" Leo asked as he tossed Percy a bottle of water.

"Not far. About ten to fifteen kilometres more, but I will steer the boat through an unorthodox route, to avoid any complications with Chaos forces. But jeez, heading towards Rome sure brings back memories of the Giants' war," Percy said before taking a gulp of water.

"Yeah, remember us travelling on my Argo II," Leo replied.

With a hand patting on his shoulder, Annabeth, who was sitting beside Percy said," How are you feeling?"

"Great! I feel different, better than before."

Seeing Annabeth looking adoringly at Percy, I can't help but smiled. Ever since Percy had recovered, she had regained her usual self. At the back of the boat sat Will Solace and Arvin. Arvin was staring at his reflection in the water, while Will was fingering with his bow. The bow was an arm's length, made of ebony and metal. The metal was carved in a series of metallic spikes folded in along the bow, which according to Will, could be sprang open to reveal a series of knives that could be used in melee combat. Will claimed it was a sacred item of the Apollo cabin and he intended to use it in the quest, partly because he was the last existing child and and partly because he wanted to use it to avenge his siblings. Will called it 'Guardian Oath'.

"You seem very energetic," observed Will. Percy just smiled at that.

"Do anyone know what are we finding in Rome?" Arvin asked.

"Athena appeared to me a fortnight ago and revealed to me that there was a map hidden in the Athena Parthenos that we retrieved back from Rome. I've brought the map," Annabeth replied as she brought out a sheet of yellow parchment from her backpack. " I think it will lead us to the item we are supposed to find."

"Then I believe we must resume our course," Percy said before tossing the bottle to me as he got back up on its feet. I struggled to catch it with my only left hand but missed.

"Oops, sorry, I forget your injury is more severe than mine," Percy apologised.

"It's okay," I said while bending down to pick it up, careful not to disturb my wound. As my fingers brushed against the bottle, I flinched at the sudden touch of coldness. Then I gasped. The water in the bottle had turned to ice...

* * *

><p>It took us another half an hour before Percy steered the boat to a rocky coastline of our destination. Apparently, he had wanted to prevent us from chancing upon any Roman coastguard vessels, which would have put us into trouble. Therefore, he had chosen this remote spot to land the boat, which was by far the nearest to the capital of Rome. Fortunately, there were none around.<p>

The waves crashed against the jagged rocks as Percy guided them to steer the boat steadily between the protruding rocks. One hit by those sharp rocks and we would lose our mode of transport back home. Once the boat ran aground, we all got off and started to pull the boat up the shore. The sea water was cooling as it rushed into my shoes and soaked my jeans. Pieces of seaweed floated on the water surface.

After hiding our boat beneath some thick brambles, we spent a few minutes checking our weapons and equipments before heading for the city. A sea breeze blew inland; however, instead of refreshing me, it only gave me a chill down my spine, as if we were expecting something worse in this place.

"Everything looks like as it did before," Percy mused as soon as we saw the first of tall buildings coming into our view. "But it's strange, the city has never seem so silent before."

Everyone halted to ponder his words, then we nodded in agreement._ If its a city, shouldn't we hear bustling noises and the sound of traffic?_ Then, why did it seem so dead? My right stump started to have a tingling sensation and I shifted my Celestial bronze sword strapped to my back to a more comfortable position. Still, that sensation did not go away. Arvin stole me a glance.

"Perhaps we are still far from the city," suggested Will.

As we neared the city, what greeted us was a terrible sight. Cars and other forms of vehicles were overturned and a few was set on fire. Windows of buidings were smashed and columns of smoke billowed out from within. There were debris everywhere and the once tall, magnificent Roman columns that lined along the roads were utterly razed. Here and there, fires consumed the lush green vegetations of parks and those along the road.

We were silent for a while as we struggled to suppress our shock and despair._ We were too late,_ I thought. The tingling feeling of my wound worsened, but I tried hard to ignore it.

"It can't be," Percy muttered loudly. With that, he rushed into the city.

"Percy!" Annabeth shouted before following him. The rest of us followed them but halted as we reached the city border. Everywhere laid the bodies of pedestrains who were killed in action. The bodies laid in grotesque shapes and the sight of them made me feel nausea._ This is too much._

Then, from the far side of the city, came the sounds of gunfire and cries. "There are still survivors," Percy shouted as he went in the direction of the sounds. We followed him as he ran along the roads, careful not to trip over any corpses. Will cursed as he tried to nock an arrow on his bow while running. Then we saw it.

Behind some buildings were eight to ten police cars being parked hastily. A few of them were set ablaze with black flames. Hiding behind the cars were some Roman policemen who were trying to take down the Chaos warriors ahead of them with their guns. However, this proved useless for the warriors continued disposing all those who were in their way despite being hit by bullets multiple times. There were some passers-by around, screaming as they tried to escape, but none managed to.

I watched a man being shot down by an arrow from a Chaos warrior carrying a crossbow and a policeman being slewed by another warrior as he was reloading his gun. The warriors consisted of a motley crew: a few minotaurs, cyclops and humans. The feat ended when one of the human Chaos warrior raised his left hand and shouted a dark spell. Then an explosion occured, sending half the police cars flying and crashing on the last of the policemen and screaming civilians. There was silence after that, except the shuffling movement of the remaining warriors. The shockwave was so loud that it left a ringing sound in my ear.

"No!" Percy shouted before pulling out his pen and uncapping it, turning it into his blue sword, Riptide. Then he charged against the warriors, his voice filled with anger as he yelled out to them. Brandishing our weapons, we followed him closely behind. It was too late to turn back now; besides, seeing how the warriors slew the innocent had made us furious.

Hearing our yells and shouts, the Chaos warriors turned in our direction and charged too. The warrior who had casted the spell earlier raised his hand again, this time directing his words at us. But nothing happened.

I smiled and held a pendant hanging on my neck tightly. Apparently, Morris had given us a great gift before we set off for our quest. The pendant could help us prevent these warriors from using their dark magic, or free magic against us whenever we were near them. Before that warrior could react, Will sent an arrow through his chest, which immediately exploded, pulling his body into pieces and tossing a few of the warriors back.

Then we clashed against them, slashing, yelling, parrying with all our might. Arvin shot elctricity at a few of them, causing them to back off. Percy yelled as he parried and dodged their blows, at the same time administering death blows at their heads and necks. Annabeth put on her Yankees cap, which made her invisible as she crept behind the enemies to backstab them.

As usual, Leo shot bolts of flames at the warriors while waving his flaming sword at them. Will had turned Guardian Oath into a melee weapon. The metal spikes along the bow had sprang open which he used to slash at the enemies near him. Then, swiftly, he nocked three arrows and shot them at three different targets.

Admist the fighting, a dark human warrior came running towards me, his black sword drawn with his bloodied silver mask boring down on me. _Attack his neck or heart._ I told myself as I met his sword. Though difficult, I struggled to attack him while holding my sword with my left hand. The warrior was covered with gunshot wounds and his cape was filled with holes. As he parried and blocked my blows, his blood splattered onto my eyes, causing me difficulties in seeing. Then he slammed into my right (my injured side), causing me to cry out in pain and lost my footing.

"Geoff!" both Percy and Arvin shouted in unison. I raised my left hand to shield his blow, then nothing happened. No sword pierced through me, nor I feel any pain. As I lifted my hands away, I was surprised to see the Chaos warrior frozen into a statue, and encased in ice. His sword was poised in mid air. Groaning, I rolled away from him.

"Geoff! Are you alright?" Percy asked as he rushed to my side.

"Did you do that?" I asked him.

Scratching his head, he answered," I'm not sure but the moment I raised my hand, he became like that."

Then he grinned. " Everyone! Get behind me!" he shouted. As soon as all of us had gathered behind him, Percy raised both his hands. He frowned as he concentrated at the warriors coming at us. Then the surrounding temperature dropped and then, before all of us knew it, every single Chaos warrior had been frozen into blocks of ice.

"Percy, since when-" Annabeth asked but she was lost for words, and so do the rest of us.

"I think that 's one of my new abilities. Now I can freely control any states of water," Percy beamed with pride.

"Yes, but now you guys are dead!" a new voice boomed. The sky flashed for an instant, then a man wearing black appeared in front of us. His eyes were glowing white and behind him were twenty more Chaos warriors. "Greetings! demigods, I am Ouranos, Primordial god of the skies," the man smiled sinisterly as he spoke.

**That's all for this chapter. Pls review.**


	12. Chapter 12: The Demon Within

**Chapter 12: The Demon Within**

**Here, Geoff's darkness powers tried to seize control of him. Do review to give any comments. Enjoy!**

**Arvin's point of view**

_Damn it. Now we are really in deep trouble,_ I thought to myself as both my eyes focused on the primordial standing before us with hatred. Ouranos looked the same as the last time I last saw him. With his black jacket, jeans, the white straps on both his wrists and his white hair, he looked more like an elderly punk than a primordial. However, he seemed more powerful than before. Perhaps that was when he had only awakened and his powers were still manifesting.

"What do you want?" Percy snarled, raising Riptide as he glared at Ouranos.

Spreading both his hands apart, the god answered casually. " Isn't it obvious? To obtain the rock of knowledge before you guys do." The Chaos warriors behind him shuffled closer, all their swords drawn. Most of them were humans and their masks seemed to be mocking at our helplessness.

"Rock of knowledge?" Leo asked, looking at us with ignorance.

"I think that is the item Athena wants us to find. According to her, we must not let it fall into Ouranos's hands," Annabeth told us.

Percy then faced the enemies again, this time his face showed a smirk. "You heard her. We should be the ones stopping you from taking this item," he answered.

"I've expected your answer. That is why I've have brought the Chaos warriors." With that, the sky above him rumbled and flashed for a second.

"Dodge!" I shouted as I sensed something was wrong. Fortunately, everyone heeded my words and backed off before a lightning bolt came down from the sky and struck the spot we had been standing, setting it ablaze. A loud thunder then followed it and the air smelled of metallic tang and smoke.

"Those who oppose me will fall," Ouranos raised his hand as he mentioned that, electricity crackling through it. Tightening it into a fist, he shouted to the Chaos warriors," Now, finish them off."

The dark warriors approached us steadily before they charged. Swinging Radiance, I brought down the nearest one with a single swipe at his neck and shot another with a light orb. The ball of light hit the warrior square in his face and his mask shattered immediately. Blood splattered in all direction. Meanwhile, the others were already into combat with the warriors, taking as many down as they could. "Despicable!" Percy shouted as he lopped off an arm of a Chaos warrior," how can you use mortals as your pawns?" The Chaos warrior came at him again but he took it down by plunging Riptide into his chest.

Ouranos just smiled." Chaos will be taking down all the humans and pass this world into our control. All the humans are bound to be disposed of. What's the harm of using them for battles. In fact, they should be honoured to work for the primordials."

"I'll never forgive you," Percy hissed as he disposed off another foe before charging at the god. Ouranos shot a bolt of light at him but Percy dodged and slashed at him.

"I'll help you,Percy!" Annabeth shouted as she ran over. However, Ouranos's eyes glowed even a brighter white as he watched her advanced. While evading Percy's attacks, he raised his hands again, but this time, they glowed with a blue light instead of electricity. Understanding what he was about to do, I shouted," Be careful!"

Before I could run to them, a cyclops Chaos warrior stopped me in my tracks, swinging his club. I brought Radiance down on its head with all my might, decapcitating it at that instant. However, it was too late when I saw Ouranos summoned a blizzard at Percy and Annabeth. Then, a black holographic wall appeared before them both and blocked the attack.

"Get away!" Geoff shouted at them as he twisted his left hand in a circular manner, causing the wall to crashed against the god, sending him stumbling backwards. At this distraction, Will fired an explosive arrow at Ouranos's feet. There was a boom in an instant and a mound of debris were tossed aside. Next, Percy summoned an icicle spear and threw it at Ouranos. The spear pierced into his his right arm while he was blinded by the explosion and the god roared with pain.

Then I directed my power to my left hand and felt it heated. A bolt of light shot out from it and headed for Ouranos. "Bull's eye!" shouted Leo as he saw my attack slammed into Ouranos. A minotaur came towards him but he finished it off by setting it on fire.

We gathered as a group as the remaining five Chaos warrior advanced towards us, this time cautiously. At the far end, Ouranos got up and I saw his face was dark with fury. His clothes were smoking and his body was covered with wounds and golden inchor seeped from them. A hand grabbing at the icicle spear impaled on his right arm, he pulled it out with a single tug. Without saying any words, he thrusted both his hands up to the sky and the sky rumbled once again.

_Not again,_I thought as I prepared for the worst. Glancing at the others, I could see that they were uncomfortable with what was going to happen. Suddenly, a large hail stone as large as a football fell from the sky and crashed onto the top of a burning building, making a jarring noice. Then another fell on the ground a metre away from us. And another. "Run!" Percy shouted and everyone followed his orders to prevent being smashed like a pancake.

Despite how we avoided the ice stones, a moment came when we found ourselves trapped under a group of those falling hail stones. Feeling helpless, we could only stare as the rocks fell. That's when we heard a loud swishing sound and saw a large sword flew and smashed against the hail stones before they tumbled onto us. There was a loud smash and the stones broke into many pieces.

"Who dares interfere me-" Before Ouranos could finish his words, the sword flew and smashed into him, sending him crashing into a building. As soon as he was hit, the hail stopped immediately.

"Here I come!," another voice boomed. Next, a red pillar of light flashed not far away from us. Percy frowned and said," I know that voice." The Chaos warriors around us erupted into flames. I stared at them in surprise. As the pillar of light faded, a large man stepped out of it.

"Mars?" Percy almost choked.

"I saved you guys just now. One day, I want retribution," the god told us. Mars had a military hair-cut and he wore a pair of shades. He was dressed in military combat outfit and had a utility belt covered with grenades. He had a small scar on his left cheek. Pulling out a large knife from his belt, he grumbled," Being a patron and the war god of the Roman empire, I could not be sitting back relaxing while the primordials seized the world from us. Already, both camps are totally destroyed. I cannot let this continue."

"The Roman camp was attacked too?" Percy asked while casting a worried glance at us.

"Yes, boy. You looked different from the last time I saw you. Yes, the Roman camp is more severely damaged than yours, so I'm afraid there will be few Romans joining your little quest." Pointing his knife in the direction of a white building, Mars continued," You must secure all the divine items before the primordials do. Ouranos is not the only one hindering and there will be more. Now, go and find the first item you are seeking in the building behind that I am pointing to while I deal with Ouranos. Don't forget, Percy, after all this is done, I will specifically settle a score with you."

"No problem," Percy grinned as he beckoned us to follow him." Thanks, anyway." We left the scene in a haste to find the divine object, while Mars and Ouranos met head on. There were lots of mini fiery explosions as the gods fought, resulting in dust and smoke everywhere. Even though after we went around that white marble building, we could still hear the explosions. Once, Geoff tumbled and almost fell, but I caught him. He mouthed the word 'thanks' and smiled weakly. I must say though, his face looked as pale as sheet.

"This building was the one which I found the Athena Pathenos. Don't tell me the item we are finding is hidden inside? I really have bad memories there," gasped Annabeth as we caught a glimpse of the building we were supposed to head for.

"Me too, but I'm afraid it is," Percy muttered solemnly. Looking at them, I wondered what bad memories they had of that building.

The building we were heading for was also made of marble. Compared to those around it, it was more badly destroyed. Part of it had been under construction, but after the destruction here, what was constructed had been destroyed completely. The Roman statues at the top were broken, leaving only headless statues or limbless ones. The iron gate before the building was completely unhinged and it laid on the ground, twisted and bent. The steps leading to the entrance were littered with corpses of civilians or security guards. There were fires everywhere, coughing smoke in the air. Just the sight of those made me feel like retching.

Raising Riptide, Percy said to us," Be on your guard. There may be Chaos warriors here. I bet the entire city is filled with them." Following his advice, we readied ourselves before approaching the building slowly.

Suddenly, there was a loud thud. Turning around, I was shocked to see Geoff kneeling on the floor with his left hand holding his sword. His entire body was trembling. "Geoff!" I shouted, panic rising in my voice. I ran towards him immediately.

Then, I felt a blade of conciousness pierced through my mind. The pain was so instant and so cruel, that I cried out in pain. My throat constricted and restricted my breathing. While gasping for air and trying to breathe, I felt myself being lifted off the ground as tendrils of purple electricity surrounded me. At a far corner, I could hear the others desperately calling my name and pleading for Geoff to stop strangling... me.

But my only focus was on my brother and it was only disbelief and shock. His left hand was raised in a claw-like gesture and purple electricity sparked off from his fingertips. Black smoke was emitting from his body, and as my vision turned red and white, I saw his eyes were glowing purple and they were definitely not Geoff's, but of someone else.

* * *

><p><strong>Third Person's point of view<strong>

**England, Amesbury, at the Stonehenge**

Cyan stood at the top of a stonehenge, with both his hands crossed behind his back and both his eyes staring coldly at the distant horizon. Below him, parked before the stonehenge, were many police cars, their siren lights flashing. The officers mingled about, some speaking on their radios. "Now, I will want you to come down or we will not hesitate to take any force," one police officer shouted out to him on his loudspeaker for the umpteenth time.

Still, Cyan kept his back on them. Not only he refused to bulge an inch, he also did not gave any sign of response. _What a din, I came all the way here to taste the beginning of a new world and yet..._

He then gave a slight glance at the two human Chaos warriors standing beside him. "Due to the influential energy of this place, the both of you will acquire powers of the universe. Pledged yourself to Lord Chaos and your bodies will forever not be destroyed." Glancing down at the police cars around the stonehenge, he continued," And all those who interupt this sacred transformation shall be..."

Then, the bodies of the warriors started trembling. One of them then burst into flames, while the other hardened like that of steel. Then there was a moment of chaos below. Shoutings, yellings, explosions and gunshots filled the air, followed by screams and cries. After a few minutes, silence ensued.

"Excellent," Cyan mused," From now on, you will be lieutenants of the Chaos army. The awakening of Chaos will be in this very place and it will take place in a few weeks time. Now, you must seize all the divine objects before those pesky demigods secure them."

Looking at the destruction below him, he snorted," Serve you right for creating trouble on this sacred place." With that, he and the transformed Chaos warriors levitated into the air before vanishing, leaving behind burning cars, smoke and corpses.

**In the next chapter, witness how the questers gain possession of the first item. Please review after reading. I need comments and suggestions as well as how you feel about the story. **


	13. Chapter 13:Guardian Of Rock Of Knowledge

**Chapter 13: Guardian Of The Rock Of Knowledge**

**Geoff's point of view**

I didn't know what was I doing. It was the most insane stuff I had ever done in my entire life. I could only stared in horror as my left hand was in a claw-like gesture and Arvin was being suspended in the air before me, choking as he struggled to catch a breath. My vision had a tinge of purple and to me, Arvin and the others seemed like a distance away from me. Their voices were faint but I could still hear them shouting for me to stop... to stop me from killing _my brother._

Percy was shouting the loudest. "Geoff! You are not yourself. Snap out of it!" He was right! This was definitely not my doing because I am not in control of my hands right now, much less my powers. Arvin gasped as he reached out his hand towards my face, his face turning purple. It was only moments before he would suffocate. Leo tried to knock me out with the pommel of his sword but my left hand, my _only _hand, suddenly swirled towards him. A cloud of darkness swirled around him before he became immobilised. Annabeth crept behind to unleash another blow on me but the _thing_ within me noticed and sent her flying back. Luckily, Percy was quick and caught her just in time. "Geoff! Don't make me do it!" he shouted as he started advancing, his blue sword poised._ He seemed desperate._

Back in my mind, I could hear a shrieking laughter. Somehow, this demon was enjoying tormenting my friends. I growled as I tried to wrench myself free of its grasp. Suddenly, I heard the voice of Erebus as he came into my mind. _Only this time, Geoff, I will help you. If the next time such things happen, I cannot aid you further. The powers of darkness are manifesting in you and even I cannot control it all. Seek the sacred item as soon as you can and go alone or you may harm any other innocents._

Then I heard a sickening scream in my mind before everything went silent. My hands dropped to my side as Arvin toppled onto the ground, coughing and spluttering as he regained his breath. My vision returned to normal. I tried moving my hands again and sighed in relief as I found I could flex my fingers again. "Great job! Geoff," Percy muttered as he withdrew Riptide. " You manage to get that thing out, didn't you? Must be one of those eidolons who are always trying to interfere."

_I wish I could tell you how wrong you are,_ I thought to myself as I struggled to get up on my feet. "We have to hurry," Annabeth told us as she pointed to a hoarde of Chaos warriors advancing towards the white building we were at. As we rushed through the twisted gates and up the stairs covered with corpses, Annabeth pointed again to our left. There was a flight of stairs situated beside the building leading to the dungeons. "That was where I went the last time I visited her. Apparently the dungeon had collapsed after a terrifying encounter. Athena told me that there was another way in the building to the other part of the dungeons."

"The rock of knowledge was hidden in the dungeons, like the Athena Parthenos?" Will asked. Annabeth nodded.

"What terrifying thing did you encounter there?" I asked her. However, Annabeth pursed her lips and continued onwards. Percy flashed me a look that told me not to mention this question again. We were at the entrance of the the building when the hoarde of Chaos warriors were upon us.

A dark sword flashed before my eyes as I swerved to avoid its biting point. I ducked behind one of the glass doors of the entrance and slammed the door in the face of the Chaos warrior. Raising my bronze sword in my left hand, I slashed it across the neck of another warrior. _I could have done that better with my right arm._

"Follow me!" Annabeth shouted as she ran towards a door with a sign that says 'dungeons'. Behind me, swords sang as Percy crossed swords with a warrior whose mask was broken in half. The remaining half stayed on the bloodied face and I could see it was that of a dead elderly man. Percy grimaced and with a flick of his finger, encased the warrior in ice. Then, as he thrusted both his arms out, I could feel the surrouding temperature rose as the water vapour around us got heated into steam. Percy threw the clouds of white steam towards the remaining warriors, causing them to retreat while scalding them.

"I hate this," Percy muttered."Fighting mortals who are innocent but stained with a dark essence. Celestial Bronze isn't supposed to harm them but now they do, and it's all because of the mastermind behind all this." Hearing this a single word appeared in my mind,_ Chaos._

We ran towards the door, trying not to slip on the ground slicked with blood. Will shot an arrow through one of the eye slits of another warrior who had the foolish boldness of coming near him as he was nocking an arrow. As we entered the door and closed it behind us, Percy froze the handle till it remained totally rigid in a huge block of ice.

We then tumbled down the stairs after passing through the door, entering the gloomy dungeons.

* * *

><p>The dungeon was a total darkness but I guessed I was the only one who could see normally in the dark. The only sounds were that of our huffs and pants as we tried to regain our breaths. The wound of my right stump had a burning sensation. "Hold on while I give some light," Arvin's voice floated out in the midst. His voice sounded raw and hollow.<p>

A second past before rays of light blinded my eyes as Arvin lit up both his hands. The dungeon resembled that of a narrow corridor, with rocky sandy walls at both side. Somewhere, I could hear the sounds of water droplets striking against the ground. I tried to move my left hand, but stopped as soon as I felt a spike of pain which lasted for a second. Under the light, I saw why. There was a long cut on my forearm and blood was oozing out from it._ When did I got injured?_

"Let's move," Annabeth muttered."You lead the way with your lights, Arvin, while I direct you."

Placing my forearm on my thigh, I tried to apply pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding while I trudged forward with the others. Luckily, the bleeding stopped minutes later.

We continued on for thirty minutes or so, coming across numerous T-junctions. Thankfully, Annabeth had her map with her and she always seemed to know where we were heading. Fortunately too, we never came across any booby traps. Throughout the journey, I walked with my brother and Annabeth, while Percy, Leo and Will took up the rear.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you just now," I mumbled to Arvin once.

"It isn't you," he replied."But I am glad you've recovered." In my heart, I wanted to tell him that he was wrong to say that but I cannot bring myself to say that, especially after what he had seen me gone through. For the rest of the time, I walked on silently, while marvelling at Arvin's lamp-like hands.

We soon came to a dead end. "That's strange," Annabeth mumbled."The map also ends here."

"Maybe there are hidden trapdoors or secret passage. We just have to find them," Percy replied before searching the place. We followed him, searching high and low for any signs of hidden doorways.

It was moments later when Leo found a knob buried in the ground not far from us. "Found it!" he proclaimed before twisting it.

A rumbling sound soon followed as the mechanisms behind the secret door whirled to life. The wall before us sank into the ground as it revealed a large cavern.

Squeaks of rats could be heard as we entered with our weapons drawn. The cavern was about three-storeys high and built from thick marble blocks which had chipped over the years. Unlit torches were built on the walls round the room. The ground below us was filled with mud and sand and our shoes squealched as we stepped on the mud. Then we saw the human skeletons.

We stifled our screams as we maintained our gaze on the bones partially buried in the mud. The skulls seemed to grin at us. The rusty swords and shields lying beside them also told us the skeletons belonged to warriors long ago, perhaps in the century when Rome was still here.

Suddenly, Leo gasped and pointed ahead at what seemed to be a plinth. Our eyes widened as we beheld what was settled on the plinth. It was a sapphire rock with thin indigo veins running along it. Under the light, it seemed to sparkle and reflect lights in all directions. "That's the rock of knowledge, one of the sacred items the Romans held which they never told anyone,"Annabeth answered our doubts immediately."It's said that the rock contained elements which not even scientists can determined. Many believed it come from outer space in form of a meteorite. That's why it is called the rock of knowledge for if anyone knew what elements it contained, one could gain a wide understanding of the universe."

"There 's a spell here and it is dangerous," Percy suddenly interupted our thoughts. Then, before we knew it, the secret door we had come through rose and shut the entrance with a thunderous noise. Then, the torches round the cavern lit up with flames.

"That's not good-" Will mumbled before we heard a roar reverberated within the cavern and the mud and sand before us erupted. A creature then emerged from the ground. It was so enormous that it took up half the height of the cavern.

It has a body that resembled that of a lion but the enormous pair of dragon-like wings behind its back disturbed us the most. Its tail ran a few metres long before spliting into three shorter tails each ending with a short spike. The manticore bared its flesh-ripping teeth at us before roaring once again as it prowled towards us.

"Be careful its tail! It can project poisonous spikes in all directions!" Annabeth shouted as she drew her bronze sword. We followed her, our Celestial Bronze swords making noises as they slid out of their scabbards. As soon as she told us that, the manticore roared again and began to swing its tail.

"Grab a shield!" Percy yelled and everyone followed his advice. I grabbed the nearest shield at my feet. A swish soon followed before its three smaller tails unleashed a volley of toxic spikes in our direction. There were sounds of rattling as the spikes embedded themselves in our shields. The manticore then roared in pain as Will shot an arrow in its side. It tried to pounce on us but retreat when the son of Apollo put in another arrow into one of its front paws. Roaring again, the pair of wings behind his back started to flap. "It's going to fly," Leo groaned as he blocked himself from the spikes again with his shield.

"I've got it!" Percy shouted. The mud beneath the manticore rippled as they clawed themselves onto the manticore's front and back paws, pulling the beast down as soon as it started to take off from the ground. "Good work, Percy!" Annabeth shouted as she made a slash on the manticore's right flank. The creature roared in pain and tried to free itself but to no avail.

Spikes flew in all directions again and I defended myself by summoning a holographic black shield. Luckily, no one else got hit by the spikes. Arvin tried to jab the creature with a rusty spear he picked up from the ground but the manticore got it in its jaw somehow and broke it with a snap; Arvin was tossed backwards. Will shot two more arrows at it but this only made it angrier. Its roar reverberated round the chamber as it struggled to free itself by flapping its wing more vigorously. However, the pull of the mud was just as strong as it was. Percy's face had a grin as he saw his plan working.

The fight was getting longer and I wondered when would it end. The beast seemed strong enough to withstand all our attacks._ Will this ever end or we will just exhaust ourselves before it eats us all?_

Then I saw it. Beside me laid a bottle which had a label that said 'kerosene'. A crazy idea came into my mind. While the beast roared again, I called out to Leo as loud as I could," Leo!"

The guy turned to me with a curious expression. "When I throw this, torch it just before it hits!" I yelled. Leo gave me a wierd expression before nodding.

I then threw the bottle at the manticore, the liquid within it sloshing out as flew towards the beast. "Everybody get down!" I shouted as soon as I saw a bolt of white hot flames flew from Leo's finger to the bottle.

There was a resounding boom and a fiery tornado enveloped itself on the beast. I felt myself being tossed onto the ground. The manticore roared in agony and pain as the crackling flames devoured it.

I tasted mud and spat it out immediately while trying to get up. I could feel the heat from the flames, which towered a metre high.

I continued to watch the inferno; the beast was still screaming but its roar were turning to wails, whines, then it was silent...

* * *

><p>We emerged from the building looking like some ragmuffins, covered with mud and dust on our hair and clothes. Arvin's white shirt and jacket was covered in brown blotches. My shirt had torn holes all over it and the right sleeve was torn. Annabeth was carrying the rock of knowledge in her arms.<p>

There were no signs of any Chaos warriors; rather the place was covered in policemen and the army. I saw many bodies wrapped up in shrouds and paramedics were rushing those who were still alive to the nearest hospital. Fortunately, they were too busy to notice us. A reporter was speaking in front of a camera man. "...there are many casualties. The police believe it is one of the attacks of the terrorists..." he was saying.

"Are you really going alone?" Arvin asked me. I hesitated but nodded._ Remember, you have only three months..._ Erebus's voice reverberated in my head.

"I have too. The prophercy said the shadows must travel in solitude. It must be referring to me," I continued." I must find the next item. It may tell us our background."

The look on Arvin's face was speechless. "Go if you must," Percy then told me. "But be careful. Meet us back at camp after you found your item."

"Wait, you can't just leave-" Arvin tried to interrupt but Percy held him back.

"Do you know where you are going?" Annabeth asked.

"I do," I lied. It was a moment of 'bading goodbyes' as I said my farewells to my_ only_ friends and brother. Arvin refused to look at me even as I walked off.

_Sorry, brother. I know I am staking my life on this but I have no choice. I almost killed you and I don't want it to happen again. I must find our background, no matter what._

I walked off in silent as tears ran down my cheeks...

**There you have it. Chapter 13! Hope you like it. Pls Review!**


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